


Untitled Collection of Malex Fics

by reachedthebitterend



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Gen, M/M, each chapter has it's own summary, let me know if there is anything that i need to tag, multiple stories
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2020-08-19 07:41:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 47,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20206144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reachedthebitterend/pseuds/reachedthebitterend
Summary: like it says on the tin, fics that i don't have titles for, because titles are hard





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> coda for "i saw the sign" || where alex talks to michael before he goes into the bar

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Alex asks leaning against the bar next to Maria.

She gives him a half smile, eyes sad and he leans into her, resting his head on her shoulder.

She leans her head on his for a second before she’s sitting back up and patting him on the cheek.

“I’m going to be okay,” she says softly, and then presses a kiss to the side of his head. “Go home and don’t worry about me.”

“Impossible,” Alex sighs and leans a little bit harder on her before he’s pushing away from the bar.

He presses a kiss to the side of her head and she smiles at him.

“Call me if there is anything that you need.”

Maria nods her head and with one last quick kiss to her temple, Alex leaves.

He walks out of the bar and sighs.

That was rough.

He scrubs his hands over his face and inhales deeply. Today was emotionally taxing, but worth it to see Maria smiling at least a couple of times.

He starts walking towards his car when the headlights of an oncoming car blind him.

Alex closes his eyes until the bright lights shut off and has to blink several times before the spots go out of his vision and he sees the person getting out of the truck that was just parked right in front of the bar.

Alex looks at Michael and freezes.

Michael looks up and stops moving as well.

Both of them stopping at the same time.

Alex swallows hard so that he doesn’t say Michael’s name, but can hardly stop himself from swallowing him whole with his gaze.

It’s been a few weeks after years of not seeing him, but somehow this separation had felt more concrete than the others.

Seeing him standing there watching Alex in the same way that he’s always looked at him makes Alex feel like he’d gotten back something he hadn’t even realized he’d been missing.

He remembers the first time that he’d seen that look on Michael’s face, and how much it had caught him off guard, how it had helped cool down his anger.

He knows how it makes him feel now, like he can survive anything that happens as long as Michael keeps looking at him like that (touching him like that, _kissing him like that_).

Alex inhales and Michael shakes his head looking away from Alex and Alex can see it when he steels himself.

He goes to walk past him and Alex can’t find it in himself to move.

Michael passes him, without a word, and Alex inhales sharply, and he can almost touch him, if only he reaches out.

But Alex doesn’t.

He looks away, and starts to walk, and then he stops.

“Hey, Guerin,” he says before he can stop himself, and hears Michael’s footsteps stop immediately.

“Don’t-” he starts and then stops, licking his lips and hoping that Michael would play along.

It takes several tense seconds but then Michael sighs. “Don’t what?”

Alex feels a small smile twitch on his lips.

“Look away.”

And then he continues walking, a little bit faster than before, heart in his throat, ignoring the way that Michael practically stopped breathing behind him.

***

Michael scrubs his hands through his hair and lets out a deep breath.

He watches Alex drive away and doesn’t look away until his headlights disappear around the bend.

He turns heading into the bar.

God, he needs a drink.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> coda for "songs about texas"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written on 03/20/19

By the time Michael is finished telling Alex everything that he can think of and Alex has asked every question that he came up with last night, Alex is exhausted.

Interrogations always made him feel drained. Not that he considered this an interrogation, but asking difficult questions and getting back difficult to hear answers was par the course for one.

At least Alex had enough information to clear Michael’s name.

“It’s getting late,” Alex says after Michael grabs the last beer and they sit in silence for a few minutes.

Michael looks at him from across the flames of his fire pit, and the heat that fills his gaze when looks at Alex sends warmth pooling in Alex’s stomach.

He really needs to leave. Now.

“I have to get going,” Alex says standing up, and swaying just a little from sitting down too long.

Michael stands up too, “You can always stay. I have plenty of space for you.”

He licks his bottom lip, and Alex’s eyes zero in on his mouth immediately before his gaze darts away and then to Michael’s eyes.

“I really can’t,” Alex says and moves to walk around the fire pit to get to his car.

Michael steps in his way, cutting his path off smoothly, and tugging Alex in close when the sudden move makes him stumble.

Alex wants to yell at him or do anything other than freeze when Michael slides his hands up Alex’s arms, across his shoulders to cup his neck.

“Hey,” Michael says tipping Alex’s chin back a little as he leans in.

Alex inhales sharply feeling like he’s about to fall apart at the seams and the only thing holding him together is Michael’s hands on his throat.

Michael leans even closer, eyes on Alex’s, cataloguing every reaction to make sure that Alex wants this.

Alex wants it more than he’s ever wanted anything in his life.

He gasps as their noses brush and the familiar mixture of scents tickles his senses. Lavender and vanilla mixing with sweat and dirt and something uniquely Michael that always leaves Alex with a taste like ozone at the back of his throat.

It’s the lavender and the vanilla that knocks Alex out of the haze he was just in.

He exhales slowly, and feels Michael’s lips barely brush his.

“Have you even taken a shower since you got back from Texas?” Alex whispers, words almost soundless, brushing against Michael’s mouth, forcing him to swallow them whole and take a step back.

Michael’s eyes are wide and terrified.

“It wasn’t like that, Alex.” He whispers just as low, fingers still pressed against the back of Alex’s neck.

Alex licks his lips and breathes in deeply.

“It doesn’t matter-” Alex starts but Michael cuts him off, moving in close again.

“Alex,” he says pleadingly. “You can’t-”

“I’m not,” Alex says and reaches up to wrap his fingers around Michael’s wrists and tug them down.

“Then why-” Michael starts grabbing Alex’s hands before he can move away.

“She’s my friend, Guerin.”

Michael swallows hard but doesn’t say anything, fingers digging into Alex’s wrists.

“And that’s not even the point, you care about her,” he doesn’t mean for it to come out accusing, but it’s difficult to think straight with Michael this close.

Michael starts shaking his head, but Alex cuts him off.

“Don’t deny it. You’ve been there for her when she’s needed a shoulder to cry on. And you like her as a person. She’s your friend. Don’t cheapen your feelings just because you had sex.”

Alex tugs his hands out of Michael’s hold when all he does is stare at Alex like Alex is breaking what’s left of his heart.

“Okay,” he finally says and sighs looking away and then looking back at Alex with wide bright eyes brimming with emotions. “You’re right. I do care about her.”

The confirmation of what Alex already knows shouldn’t feel like a knife being twisted in his gut.

“And maybe if things were different, I could fall in love with her, easily.”

Alex closes his eyes and inhales deeply.

“But things are like this,” he says sharply. The tone of his voice making startling Alex to look back at him. “And no amount of caring for her is going to erase the fact that I’ve loved you since I was seventeen, and I’m going to keep loving you for the rest of my life, and nothing is ever going to change that.”

He moves in close and has his hands around Alex’s throat again, fingers sliding into the back of his neck.

He looks deep into Alex’s eyes and Alex can’t help but look right back.

“You’re it,” he whispers into the space between them. “You’re the constant variable in this experiment I call a life and everything doesn’t work right when I don’t have you.”

He looks intently at Alex, and Alex shudders, feeling too many things bubbling up at once to speak.

Michael huffs and a small smile curls the corner of his mouth before he’s leaning in quickly.

He kisses Alex, fast and chaste, pulling away before Alex can respond and sucks his own bottom lip into his mouth.

He lets it go when all Alex can do is watch him.

“If it’s really what you want, I can do friends,” Michael says and Alex starts, struggling to remember when he’d told Michael that he wanted to be friends.

“But we don’t have to be only friends to talk, you know?”

He lets go of Alex, fingers sliding tantalizingly across Alex’s neck and collarbones.

Alex watches him as he moves back to his seat and just turns and heads to his car.

Trying to be friends with Michael was going to be more difficult than he thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where everyone learns who exactly can’t keep their hands to themselves, or Alex left discretion and public decency in the Middle East as well (along with his underwear and all of his belts)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written on 03/24/19

.1.

Liz loves listening to Michael talk about Theoretical Chemistry and Experimental Physics because it’s so fascinating and stuff that she didn’t learn when she was working on her degree because technically it wasn’t supposed to actually exist, but then again she now lives in a world where aliens are roaming around in disguise healing people and moving things with their minds.

The drone of his voice in the background while they work is one of her favorite things about working with Michael.

Liz looks to the clock and back to her experiment, Michael was supposed to be back from his lunch break fifteen minutes ago. Not that he was actually getting paid to be there, but they were supposed to be working on perfecting the formula for the suppressor serum today, and Liz had blocked the whole day off once Michael had confirmed that he could be there the whole day.

He’d left over an hour ago telling her that he’d bring her back something from the diner, and while Liz wasn’t hungry, Michael had a very good sense of time.

She dimly hears the elevator ding open and the low clickclack of boots on the linoleum floors and smiles.

And then frowns when there is the sound of sneakers squeaking against the floor and then a thud and Michael making a grunting sound like he was just pushed into the wall.

Liz leaves her experiment pulling her gloves off and tossing them in the trash before peeking out through the glass window on the door.

She looks away almost as fast leaning back flat against the door as she covers her mouth with her hand so that she doesn’t burst out laughing in disbelief.

She had known that Alex and Michael were making an attempt to date, since apparently they had fallen in love (and into bed) without even going on one date.

She sneaks a look back out through the window. It seems like things are going much better than they’ve said.

Alex has Michael trapped against one of the empty lab doors, hands on either side of his hips, his head buried in Michael’s neck, most likely leaving him a hickey from the look on Michael’s face, which, ew.

Liz wrinkles her nose, but watches almost mesmerized as Michael opens his eyes and glanced down at Alex and smiles, a sweet _innocent_ smile, like he’s incredibly happy, a smile that Liz has never seen on his face.

Alex moves then, pulling away from Michael’s neck and then stopping when he looks at Michael.

Liz hears low whispers and then Alex is kissing Michael in a way that she’s pretty sure is going to get out of hand if someone doesn’t interrupt them.

It immediately gets out of hand to Liz’s surprise, especially considering this is Alex.

Michael’s hands fall from Alex’s shoulder to the space between their bodies, and Liz sees when Michael breaks the kiss to thump his head back on the wall.

He swallows hard and says something that Liz can’t hear, but Alex seems to have no trouble talking in a louder tone.

“I figured I wouldn’t be needing them once I caught you.”

Michael swallows again and his eyes flicker to the door, and Liz freezes and then smiles and waves at him before turning around and grabbing a sterile pair of gloves to get back to her experiment.

Michael doesn’t enter the lab for another twenty minutes. And when he does, his hair is a mess, there is pink staining the back of his neck and ears, and a giant hickey peeking from beneath his collar.

Liz opens her mouth and Michael glares.

“Unless you want me to talk about last Thursday night at the Drive In, then I suggest you rethink what you’re about to say.”

Liz feels her cheeks heat up and she just gives Michael a look before raising her eyebrow and shrugging.

“Tell me about the twenty-second compound again?”

Michael starts speaking, and Liz presses her lips together so she doesn’t comment on how hoarse his voice sounds.

.2.

Kyle had been gone for maybe five minutes, at most eight. He’d just needed a break to go use the bathroom and from the mounting tension between Alex and Guerin.

It hadn’t surprised Kyle, exactly, that once Guerin was made aware that Kyle and Alex were working together with government resources to hunt down the alien threat, he became a permanent fixture in the place as long as Alex was there.

Kyle thinks that maybe they’d gotten into a fight because Guerin kept glaring and Alex was as cool as ice pretending like Guerin wasn’t even in the room with them.

Kyle is thinking to suggest that maybe they should all just go home and tackle this in the morning, partially because he’d just finished working an eighteen hour shift when Alex had asked him if he had some time that night, but mostly because he just didn’t feel like dealing with Guerin glaring at him every time he talked to Alex and Alex talked back to him.

He opens the door that leads into the main room and stops right at the entrance, stopping the door from closing behind him.

Guerin has migrated from the chair across from Alex, to the bit of desk right in front of where Alex had been sitting. Had been because he was standing now, leaning over Guerin with both of his hands on either side of his hips on the table, trapping him there as he kisses him like Guerin is the air that he needs to breathe.

The shock of it because he was expecting them to be at each other’s throats not doing _that_ on the table where they sometimes eat at.

Kyle clears his throat.

Alex moves his hands to slide them in Guerin’s hair and he pulls Guerin’s head back to get at his throat.

Kyle clears his throat a little bit louder.

Guerin’s hands move from where they were clenched against Alex’s back to slide into the back pockets of his jeans. The move tugs the pants even lower, which wouldn’t have worked if Alex had been wearing a belt.

Kyle clears his throat really loudly and steps forward letting the door slam behind him.

Surprisingly, Guerin is the one who pushes Alex back. Alex goes unwillingly.

Guerin just slides out from where he’s pinned to the table, and says. “Bathroom,” before walking past Kyle and out the door he had just walked through, glaring at Kyle the whole way.

Kyle wants to say something about it not being his fault that they couldn’t wait until he was gone to make up.

When he turns back, Alex is leaning against the table in the same spot he had Guerin pinned to and raises an eyebrow when Kyle gives him a look.

“I thought you guys were fighting,” Kyle states as he walks towards Alex.

Alex who was watching the door Guerin had just walked through like he could force Guerin to come back to the room with just his thoughts, shrugs. “We were.”

Kyle leans on the table next to Alex and Alex turns to look at him.

“Do you-?”

“Why don’t you just go home,” Alex suggests in a tone that’s anything but suggestive. “I’ll finish cleaning up here. Guerin’ll give me a ride home.”

Kyle snorts, “Yeah, I bet.”

Alex huffs out a laugh, and Kyle smiles. “You know you could’ve told me that you needed to work things out with your boyfriend and I would’ve made myself scarce.”

Alex shrugs. “We barely hangout.”

Kyle rolls his eyes. “This isn’t hanging out. This is work. My second job that I didn’t apply for that pays me in nothing but pain and misery. Next time we’re getting a beer, and Guerin can come too.”

Alex gives him a smile. “I’d like that.”

There is a loud clicking sound and then the door that leads inside of the bunker after you climbed down the stairs opens up without anyone touching the big red button that unlocks it.

Alex is grinning but biting down on his lip so that it doesn’t show.

Kyle gives him a look.

“I’m thinking I’ve overstayed my welcome,” Kyle says and pats Alex on the shoulder on his way out.

He turns as the doors are closing to see Alex walking to the other side of the room.

He barely makes out Guerin as he enters the room again.

“I thought he’d nev-” he starts speaking and then Alex is pushing him into the door and shutting him up with his mouth.

Kyle just shakes his head as the door closes on them and heads out of the bunker to his car.

.3.

After Michael checks his watch for the fifth time in as many minutes, Isobel snaps.

“I’m sorry,” she says a little peeved. “Am I boring you that much?”

Michael gives her a smirk, “Dreadfully.”

Isobel gives him a look.

Michael shrugs, “Alex is late.”

Isobel rolls her eyes.

Ever since Alex and Michael had solved their problems, they’ve been attached at the hip (or the lips) and it was getting annoying.

Isobel isn’t used to sharing Michael’s attention with anybody. She’s the same with Max, but the Liz Thing had been happening since high school and Isobel had sort of come to terms with it.

But Michael was different. Michael didn’t do relationships. Michael didn’t give anyone attention unless it was for one night, and even then it was just for a couple of hours and if Isobel really needed him he would drop everything to be at her side.

Unlike Alex, who seemed to be the exception to every single rule that Michael had about humans.

Michael gives her a fond smile and taps her almost empty glass with his.

“Want a refill?” he asks.

They both turn to look at the crowd at the hotel bar across the room, and the servers weaving through the crowd in the middle of the room.

“I’ll go to the kitchens,” Michael states when they turn to look at each other.

“Good idea,” Isobel says and hands him her glass. “Just don’t take any of the golden bottles. Those are for the Big Toast.”

Michael salutes her mockingly tapping his glass on his head, and then turns and makes his way to the kitchens.

Isobel looks out at the crowd and at her tasteful decorations that are holding up nicely. She glances at her phone when it vibrates in her hand letting her know that in thirty minutes it’ll be time for dinner to be served.

She gets distracted by Mrs. Lane, one of Noah’s clients who came to congratulate her and to gossip about something that Isobel really has no interest in learning.

But she’s polite and gracious and notices around the fourth time that Mrs. Lane clears her throat that Michael isn’t back.

Her phone vibrates in her hand. Fifteen minutes to dinner.

“If you’ll excuse me,” she says and Mrs. Lane finally stops talking to smile at her. “I have to go make sure dinner is ready.”

She makes her getaway as smooth and not hurried as she can and walks into the kitchen searching immediately for Michael.

She finds him, rolls her eyes to the ceiling asking a god that she doesn’t believe in for patience, and then snaps.

“Michael!”

Michael immediately pulls away from Alex, but Alex slides his mouth down Michael’s throat.

“Um, Al_ex_,” he gasps and reaches up to grip Alex’s hair, but he doesn’t seem to be trying to pull him away. “Isobel is-” he continues breathlessly.

Isobel gags loudly, but not loud enough to cover up Michael’s moan.

Isobel is going to have nightmares about that for _weeks_.

Alex finally disengages his mouth from Michael and drags his fingers through Michael’s hair. “Who cares?”

And then he’s kissing Michael again.

“Is he drunk?” Isobel asks stepping further into the room when she spots the refilled glasses on the table.

Michael’s only response is to moan.

Isobel rolls her eyes so hard that they almost fall out of her head.

She walks forward and grabs both glasses in her hands.

She takes Michael’s drink and waits exactly five more seconds for them to stop, before she raises her hand and spills the drink over their heads.

She smiles winningly when they turn to her, Michael with a dazed happy look in his eyes, Alex glaring.

“Dinner will be served in less than fifteen, get yourselves cleaned up.”

And then she steps in close looking at Alex straight in the eyes, “And if you’re late, I swear I’ll castrate you with a hot iron.”

Alex gives her a look that says, he would love to see her try.

Michael just promises that they’ll be there.

Isobel leaves the room and turns once to see them with their foreheads pressed together, and Isobel almost drops her glass in shock.

She’s never seen Michael look so, so _peaceful_ before.

They’re almost twenty minutes late, but Isobel doesn’t say anything.

Alex can make Michael late to all of her events if he wants, as long as he keeps making Michael looking like he’s finally found the home he was searching for.

.4.

Max was almost done with his paperwork for the day when Alex walks into the building with a purpose.

He spots Max almost immediately and makes a beeline for him.

“Where is he?” He asks and gives Max a look when Max opens his mouth to lie immediately.

He sighs and puts his pen down.

“He’s in the cage, but the Sheriff wants him to stay the whole night, for a misdemeanor.”

Alex scoffs, “I’m not here to break him out.”

And then he’s stalking to the door.

Max hears Michael immediately start making excuses when Alex walks into the room, but he doesn’t hear much as the door closes behind Alex.

Max picks up his pen shaking his head with a smile.

Unlike Isobel, who thinks that Alex is a corrupting influence, Max thinks that Alex is good for Michael.

He’s become less intense, less lonesome, less sad now that Alex is finally back in his life the way that he wants.

Max finishes his paperwork and his phone chirps with a message.

He looks at the notification and smiles when he sees that its from Maria.

Ever since she had caught him having coffee by himself at the diner, and “moping like a thirteen year old who had gotten stood up by her crush” while he waited for Liz to get home, she started sending him messages at odd times when she knows he’s not with Liz to make him smile.

It works well for both of them. Max enjoys talking to Maria, and she’s Liz’s best friend so he’s always happy to get to know her better.

He’s reading through her rant about bachelorette parties and how she’s never letting Isobel convince her to use her bar for an event again, when he hears the muffled shouting.

He grimaces, but really, Michael had been doing so well with not getting arrested. He wonders what happened that made him get drunk and key someone’s car.

“Oh,” Alex says loudly. “So now it’s my fault!?”

“That is not what I said!” Michael yells back.

He hears the sound of the cell door being forced open and sighs. Michael always breaks the internal mechanism when he’s not careful.

They go back to muffled shouting that Max can’t make out.

Max waits and when there aren’t any concerning noises, he goes back to Maria’s message.

He’s pressing send on his reply when there is a loud crash and a pained grunting sound that sounds like Michael.

Max gets up then concerned because Alex isn’t really a violent person, but Michael can bring out the worst in anyone.

He opens the door to peek inside to make sure they’re okay, and then slams it shut.

They are definitely more than okay.

“Why is everyone always cockblocking us?” Alex asks in a deadly serious tone.

Max huffs out a laugh.

“Maybe because you can’t _ever_ keep it in your pa-” Michael cuts himself off moaning.

Max grimaces and knocks loudly on the door.

“Excuse me,” Alex says, but it’s obvious from his tone that he’s not talking to Max. “But who here isn’t wearing any pants?”

“Yeah well,” Michael pants. “You’re not wearing any underwear-”

“Okay,” Max says cutting Michael off before he scars him even more. He opens the door and looks pointedly at the empty cell Michael is supposed to be in. “I’ll tell the Sheriff I let you go because there was a family emergency, but please don’t have sex on top of the desk.”

“Okay,” Michael says in a strained voice. “We’ll behave.”

“This time,” Alex mutters under his breath and Michael’s breath hitches, and Max shuts his eyes and hopes that that doesn’t mean what he thinks it means.

There is the sound of clothes rustling, but Max waits until he hears Michael’s belt being buckled to turn to them.

They’re both in identical positions leaning against the desk. But while Alex is looking at him like he’s daring Max to say something while simultaneously letting him know that he _knows_ secrets about Max that he’d prefer his brother to never find out with his _eyebrows_, Michael is leaning against Alex, his head on Alex’s shoulder, eyes half closed.

The last time Max remembers seeing Michael this content was-

Well, Max can’t remember _ever_ seeing Michael this content.

He just inclines his head at Alex. “You’re free to go.”

Alex smiles back at him and coaxes Michael out of the door.

Max watches as Alex helps Michael into the passenger seat of the truck, and he feels fondness and happiness swelling in his chest when Alex leans in close and presses their foreheads together before closing the door and getting into the driver’s seat.

Max turns back to his desk, smiling.

.5.

Jenna was _tired_. She’d been working nonstop for three days and all she wanted was three shots of tequila, at least one orgasm and then to sleep for the next thirty-six hours.

It was the fact that her head was already at home all snug in her bed that made her slow to realize that the truck she was parked behind was idling.

The light turned yellow and then red and Jenna huffed out an annoyed breath.

The light turns green and Jenna gets even more annoyed when the truck doesn’t move.

She squints at the truck and recognizes it as Michael’s, and then squints at the back window and she can see Michael’s head right by the driver’s seat.

His head is dropped back on the headrest, and Jenna debates to get out of the car and make sure that he was okay, and not asleep or worse.

But then she sees his arm move from where it was resting along the back of the seat and drops it down to his lap.

So, not dead.

And then his head moves from one side to the other, and Jenna can just make out his voice through the glass and the background noise the engine is making mixing with the radio that she has on low.

So, not asleep.

She’s about to lean on her horn as the light turns green again when another head pops up from around the vicinity of Michael’s lap, and Jenna is startled into laughter when she recognizes the sharp line of Alex’s jaw.

Michael slides one hand up Alex’s neck, and Alex lunges at him.

Jenna hears a muffled thump and the sound of the engine revving when the car is in park.

Jenna thinks about giving them a ticket for being parked at the traffic light and for public indecency, but then she thinks about the paperwork she’ll have to fill out, especially given the fact that Alex is a veteran.

She rolls her eyes when she notices that Alex is straddling Michael’s lap and just puts her car in reverse.

She makes sure there is no one behind her and then moves back a few feet, before putting the car into drive and getting into the next lane pulling up right next to them.

They don’t notice her of course, too busy lost in each other.

It makes Jenna feel a tiny spark of envy given the fact that they’re going to make each other come and she’s only got her vibrator at home to deal with the situation.

Which is why she leans on her horn then.

Alex jumps in Michael’s lap, and Michael groans head dropping back.

Alex looks to her with a dazed look in his eyes and then he gives her a smile and waves before he’s turning back to Michael and leaning down to place a kiss on his neck.

Michael’s eyes are half lidded when he looks at her, and he smirks.

Jenna thinks again, maybe the paperwork wouldn’t be so bad if she could wipe that look off Michael’s face.

The decision is made for her when the light turns green and she can see another car driving from the opposite direction.

She rolls her eyes and drives away.

.6.

Noah watches Isobel as she walks across the room from where she’d been leaning against the wall talking to Maria to where Liz and Max are sitting down talking quietly while sharing a glass of wine.

Family dinners were always an event at the Evans-Brackens’, especially when Michael actually came to them. Now they were a party.

Isobel only hosted the dinner twice a month now, and each time Noah feels like they’re celebrating something huge.

Watching as Isobel settles herself between Liz and Max and how they welcome her into their bubble easily makes him feel like they should be celebrating.

He watches as Maria drags Kyle to the center of the living room as Jenna does something to the radio to make it actually play music and not just static.

His smile widens as Liz drags Isobel to the middle of the room when Max refuses to go.

His brow furrows when he does a sweep of the room and comes up short one person.

Michael hadn’t shown up with Alex, and Alex had spent the whole night in a mood that he only seemed to break out of when Maria sat down beside him and wrapped an arm around him speaking quietly in his ear.

Noah doesn’t know much about Alex, or about Michael and Alex’s relationship, but he does know a bit about Michael.

And he knows that Michael adores Alex, and would rather die than hurt him.

He shifts a little and looks back to the makeshift dance floor in the middle of the living room.

He watches as his laughing wife coaxes her reluctant brother to dance, and decides to find Alex.

Maybe he can coax him out to the dance floor as well.

He smiles to himself as he turns and heads into the kitchen.

He stops short right at the entrance and stares.

Michael had apparently gotten there sometime during the last time he saw Alex and now. Which was like fifteen minutes ago.

He was leaning back against the kitchen counter, his hands planted on his sides, bracing himself as he leans his head back as Alex kisses down his neck and towards his chest.

Michael wasn’t wearing a shirt.

Noah doesn’t consider himself to be a prude, not with what he and his wife get up to, and he’s all for sexual liberation as long as everything is consensual.

That being said.

There are certain things that he doesn’t need to know about Michael, and that face he’s making as Alex moves lower is one of them.

Noah knocks on the open entrance that leads into the kitchen, because there is no door.

Michael’s eyes snap open, and his eyes find Noah’s.

Noah gives him a look.

Michael actually looks relieved that it’s him and not his sister, which to be fair is actually a relief given the fact that Isobel has taken to carrying around a spray bottle that she uses to spray Alex (usually) and Michael when they do things like make out in the middle of dinner.

Michael starts pushing Alex back a little.

He doesn’t see what Alex does, but it makes Michael hiss in pain before he’s pushing Alex away harder.

Noah hears Alex sigh in annoyance as he lets Michael go and he turns to face him without an ounce of shame on his face.

Noah barely recalls any of the nights when Liz and Alex kidnap him with the excuse that they’re _human_ bonding as humans in relationships with aliens.

But one of the things they talk about is sex, which is _odd_. But telling someone your sex secrets creates a bond that apparently makes you lose your sense of shame and decorum.

Michael who had to crawl back out through the window he had apparently crawled through to find his shirt, slides up behind Alex and tucks his hands into the front pocket of his jeans, tugging him backwards.

Alex smiles like he’s won the lottery and tilts his head back to rest on Michael’s shoulder.

Noah watches as Michael whispers something that makes Alex’s smile widen and then Michael is moving, heading out of the kitchen and tugging Alex behind him, a soft smile on his face that makes Noah feel warm inside

And maybe he does know more about Alex than he thought, he thinks as he follows them out to the living room.

.7.

Isobel stops in front of Maria and smiles.

“No,” Maria says immediately turning to get the bottle of whiskey that belongs exclusively to Michael, Max and Isobel doctored to actually affect them like alcohol does to humans.

“Come on, we had fun last time didn’t we?” Isobel cajoles, leaning her elbows on the bar and propping her chin on her hands and blinking her big eyes at Maria like all it takes to get Maria to do what she wants is a little bit of flirting.

“You had fun. I was stuck behind the bar making complicated cocktails at your behest.”

Isobel pouts.

“It’s true,” Max says leaning on the bar next to his sister. “She told me all about it.”

Isobel glares at him and they have a silent conversation involving their eyebrows while Maria serves their drinks.

“Okay, fine,” Isobel says rolling her eyes and smiling at Maria when she gives her her drink.

Then she gets this look on her face and turns to Max who immediately goes on the defensive.

“I’ll throw it in your backyard then, the space is definitely big enough and Maisy is really into the whole rustic look. It could wo-”

“No,” Max says. “Absolutely not.”

Isobel gets this determined glint in her eyes and so does Max.

“Hey, Babeluca!” Liz’s voice catches her attention and Maria leaves the silently arguing twins and heads to the other end of the bar where Liz is leaning against the bar smiling widely as Maria gets closer.

“You rang?” She says stopping in front of her.

Liz grins and makes grabby hands until Maria gives her her hands.

“You are the love of my life,” she says seriously. “And I would do anything for you.”

Maria smiles at her and squeezes their hands together. “Me too.”

Liz’s smile widens and she looks like that’s exactly the answer she was looking for.

She leans in a little bit and says, “Will you please come with me to the bathroom? Jenna is in competition with Kyle at the pool table. And Isobel always tries to give me the shovel talk whenever we’re alone.”

Maria nods her head. “Let’s go.”

Liz smiles and takes one of Maria’s hands when she ducks out from behind the bar and drags her to the bathroom.

Maria leans against the door while Liz does her business and she smiles fondly at her when she dancewalks out of the stall to the sink to wash her hands.

It’s quiet enough back there that when they walk past the men’s she hears a faint thud.

Maria purses her mouth. She doesn’t remember noticing that anyone was about to get out of hand.

Liz skips ahead straight into Max who wraps her in his arms and Liz smiles happily at him.

Maria feels the smile stretching her lips, and glances at Isobel who also looks fond, but exasperated.

She starts to turn and then she hears a groan.

She makes a face and really hopes that she’s not going to have to toss someone out for jerking off in the bathroom.

She opens the door without further ado and her mouth drops open.

Definitely _not_ jerking off.

Maria had expected to one day walk in on something like this, and walking in on Guerin without a shirt on isn’t exactly a new thing. But walking in on _Alex_ very thoroughly _giving it_to Guerin, well Maria would’ve never thought Alex of all people would be into public sex, or semi public.

Alex has Michael bent over the sink with his hands braced on the mirror, and when he takes one hand off to cover his mouth so he doesn’t get too loud, one of Alex’s hands moves to his wrist.

“What did I say?” Alex says in an unrecognizable voice.

And it knocks Maria out of the shock of finding them like this.

She makes to leave and accidentally catches Michael’s eyes in the mirror.

“_Al_-” he starts and then gets cut off by a moan that Maria sort of recognizes and, _gross_.

She leaves the bathroom and flips the sign in the front so that it says, Out of Order.

She stalks to the bar and ignores everyone who calls her name to grab the most expensive bottle of tequila that she has.

She needs to suppress any and all memories involving Guerin and sex.

“I know that face,” Jenna says from across from her.

“Michael and Alex?” Max asks as he leans next to Jenna.

Maria makes a face and takes three shots one after the other.

She sees Isobel pushing off the bar and heading in the direction of the bathroom, but Maria catches her arm before she can make it too far.

“I wouldn’t go in there if I were you.”

Isobel makes a face and taps one of the shot glasses with her finger.

“We’re gonna need more of this to erase that image from my brain.”

Maria readily agrees and pours shots for everyone.

By the time Alex and Michael make it back out, Maria has left one of the newbies in charge of the taps and is sitting on one of the stools with a beer in hand, watching Liz and Max slow dance to a fast country song while Jenna thoroughly kicks Kyle’s ass at darts and Noah and Isobel cuddle on one of the booths her legs thrown over his lap.

She feels someone sitting down next to her, and catches Alex taking one of Kyle’s darts and throwing it.

She looks to see Michael smiling sheepishly at her, and hears Jenna saying, “See? You just suck!”

Kyle sputters loudly while Alex laughs.

Maria sees Michael’s eyes flicker over to where Alex is, and the way his face changes makes her heart catch in her chest.

“You really love him, don’t you?”

Michael turns back to her and his smile goes soft and fond. “He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me on this planet.”

Maria thinks that’s sweet but she rolls her eyes and pushes him a little.

She looks back to Alex to see that he’s watching them with a smile that matches the one on Michael’s face.

It’s so sappy that Maria isn’t going to make their lives miserable for fucking in the bathroom of her bar.

“You’re sickening,” she says turning to Michael who is predictably staring at Alex.

He turns to her and raises an eyebrow.

“So I’m going to let you off with a warning,” she smiles before leaning in close. “But if you fuck in my bar ever again I will make good on my promise in Texas.”

Michael smirks, “Technically, we didn’t fuck in the b-”

“I mean it Guerin!”

Michael raises his hands in the air. “Why are you acting like this is all my fault? Alex was the one who-”

Maria cuts him off with a look.

“Why am I always being blamed for stuff I didn’t do?” He says looking over Maria’s shoulder.

“Because I’m an angel,” Alex says as he wraps his arms around Maria.

Maria elbows him, “Angel my ass, we are going to have _words_. But I need to be high for that conversation so it has to wait.”

She looks at Alex and Alex raises an eyebrow in question.

Maria smiles and rolls her eyes.

“Come on,” she tells them both as she moves from her seat to slide back behind the bar.

“Let’s get really drunk and pretend nothing happened.”

Maria can practically feel Michael opening his mouth.

And then he just makes a muffled sound.

When she turns to look at them it’s to see that Alex had shut Michael up with his mouth.

Well then, maybe this whole, Alex can’t keep his hands off Michael thing has its perks.


	4. part of the magicians au

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> technically, part four of the magicians au, or Kyle accidentally drags Michael along during one of the Valenti-Manes Legacy Side Quests, also known as the one where Alex punches Kyle in the face
> 
> Important Things to Remember:
> 
> 1\. Michael and Alex had sex: “But obviously, it wasn’t that memorable if I can’t even remember anything, Guerin,” Alex said, you know, like a liar, walking away before he can catch a glimpse of Michael’s devastated face.  
2\. Kyle discovered that his family legacy is literally drenched in blood and dark magic and enlists Alex’s help because their family lines have been tied together for centuries: “I mean, we can always let the apocalypse happen and then try again in another lifetime,” Kyle says sarcastically. Alex smothers himself with his pillow because Kyle doesn’t know how right he actually is.  
3\. Michael thinks that Kyle and Alex are having sex: “Had fun?” Michael asks a sneer tugging the corners of his mouth. Alex is too tired for this. “Had an amazing time. Kyle really knows how to treat a guy.” When Isobel curses him the next morning, he has no one to blame but himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written on 04/06/19

Alex doesn’t have definitive proof, but he knows that somehow Kyle did this on purpose.

He’d been glad for once to see Kyle show up out of nowhere saying that he needed his help and just whisking him away.

He’d been in the middle of an argument with Michael, and what he really needed was a breather.

Which was why he was so surprised to see a disgruntled Michael standing next to a sheepish Kyle when he turned around already saying, “Thanks you got there ju-”

Michael scoffs at the look on Alex’s face, “Sorry to interrupt your date.”

Alex starts to deny that this is a date when Kyle interrupts them. “It doesn’t matter. We’re on a time limit here. Let’s go.”

Kyle starts jogging down one of the paths, pulling out the familiar compass that leads them right to whatever magical object they need to find.

Alex follows behind him, but stops and turns raising an eyebrow at Michael.

Michael refuses to budge. “It isn’t my fucked up family legacy that’s causing havoc here.”

Alex rolls his eyes. “Fine, then stay here.”

Alex barely catches up to Kyle before Michael is jogging up behind them.

“So what is it this time?” Alex asks and barely flinches when Kyle tosses a scroll at him.

He unrolls it.

“The Stone of Absolute Truth?” Alex asks incredulously.

“Yeah,” Kyle says sighing. “I didn’t get farther than it warns the wearer of imminent danger, and what’s more dangerous than us coming for it? So we have to hurry before things get out of hand.”

Things get out of hand much faster than anticipated.

And with Michael’s help they manage to escape much faster than anticipated as well.

Kyle is holding the ring in his hand, the black stone set in the middle pulses with an orange glow.

Alex smiles at Michael unrolling the scroll to continue reading about the stone. “It usually takes us longer to get out of whatever situation Kyle runs us into the middle of, so thanks.”

Michael smiles back at him and Alex’s breathing stutters and his heart skips a beat. Alex looks down to the scroll feeling the heat crawl up his neck.

He reads the words: _The stone lowers your self control and forces you to tell the absolute truth, don’t let the stone touch your bare skin the effect is instantaneous._

He turns to see that Kyle has stopped moving, staring at the ring in his hands.

“Kyle,” Alex snaps as he pulls a handkerchief out of his pocket. “Give me the ring.”

Kyle’s eyes snap to his and Alex really doesn’t like the look on his face.

“I’m sick and tired of you telling me what to do,” he stalks towards Alex, clenching the ring in his hand. “Do you think that I like going on these Quests and figuring out how to stop something bad from happening all because _your_ dad is a power hungry bastard? I had a life that had nothing to do with magic and now I can’t even escape it because my dad was the one who created the warning system so it only works for me!”

He almost has Alex backed into a tree, Alex looking at him with wide eyes not doing anything to defend himself.

“Hey!” Michael says inserting himself between the two of them.

Kyle stops short and looks at Michael, and Alex really, _really_ doesn’t like the look on his face.

“And you,” he starts pushing Michael back and advancing. “When are you going to learn that just because you defended him from his father doesn’t mean that he’s going to sleep with you, especially after you took advantage of the fact that he was drunk and high on emotions to-”

Alex punches Kyle in the face so hard that he knocks him out.

Kyle falls to the ground with a thud, and Alex curses shaking his hand out as pain pulses up from his knuckles to his forearms.

Michael laughs in amusement and Alex glares at him.

Michael bends down to where Kyle is.

“Wait,” Alex says, but it’s too late.

Michael has the ring in his hands.

“Fuck,” Alex breathes and jumps when Michael’s gaze snaps right up to him.

Michael looks away almost immediately, clenching his jaw and clenching his hand around the ring.

“You’re not supposed to touch it,” Alex offers holding out the handkerchief.

Michael’s eyes snap back to him and to his hand and then up his arm to his neck and down his chest to his hips dragging down his thighs and back up until he meets his eyes.

Alex freezes and trembles, trapped in his gaze. He’d forgotten how blatant Michael had been about his attraction before That Night.

“Obviously,” he drawls getting to his feet slowly. “Touching always comes with consequences.”

Alex takes an automatic step back. “Give me the ring, Guerin.”

“Why?” Michael asks stepping forward and forcing Alex to take another step back. “Afraid of what I might have to say? What I might do?”

Alex shakes his head. “I’m not afraid of you.”

Michael laughs. “You’ve got a funny way of showing it.”

Alex stops moving and Michael very nearly bumps into him.

“I’m _not_ afraid of you.”

Michael looks into his eyes and Alex looks back.

“I’ve been lying to you,” Michael says voice low and Alex immediately feels his heart start to race.

“I remember everything,” he continues and Alex feels a pulse of heat right behind his ears spreading to the back of his neck.

Alex takes a step back, needing space between them and steps right into a tree.

Michael presses in close.

“And sometimes you look at me, like you remember too.”

Alex shakes his head lifting his hands to push Michael back, but Michael grabs them, pressing his hands down on either side of his head. He presses the right right against Alex’s wrist, and Alex feels the magic creeping into him instantly.

Michael blinks fast a few times and then pulls away, the ring drops to the floor and Alex bends down and grabs it immediately, wrapping the handkerchief around it.

Only, the magic doesn’t dissipate. Alex can feel it inside of him, urging him to do something.

“Get me the scroll,” Alex says gasping.

Michael takes one look at him, still kneeling on the floor and finds the scroll on the floor where Alex had dropped it.

Michael kneels down next to him and Alex tries to take the scroll from him but Alex’s hands are shaking too much.

“Why is it affecting you like that?” Michael asks sounding worried. “It didn’t hurt when I touched it.”

Alex laughs humorlessly. “Probably my fucked up blood, because Kyle is right. All these magical items we’ve had to find have my family’s fucked up legacy all over it. I can fight whatever it wants me to do, but that means that there has to be a way to control it. To use the magic, my father would never hide it if there wasn’t a way to control it.”

Alex hears Michael unravel the scroll and read fast, muttering words under his breath.

_“Only those who sacrifice their absolute truth will be able to manipulate the stone’s power, _whatever that means_.”_

Alex gives a little helpless laugh. “It means that in order to make the pain go away I have to tell the absolute truth or pass the ring to someone else.”

Michael stays silent, and Alex doesn’t blame him.

“Give it to me,” Michael says voice tightly wound as though he really doesn’t want to hear what Alex has to say.

“It has to be me, Guerin,” Alex says shaking his head. “You couldn’t control yourself any more than Kyle could and I’m pretty sure that I need a witness for this to work.”

Michael looks away making a frustrated noise.

Alex takes a deep breath and comes to a decision.

“Okay, I’m going to tell you the truth,” Alex says and looks to Michael whose eyes snap to him wide and surprised. “But you have to promise me one thing.”

“Anything,” Michael says immediately and Alex smiles sadly.

“You have to make yourself forget afterwards.”

Michael freezes and Alex just keeps talking.

“And if you don’t, then I’ll leave, and you’ll never be able to find me.”

Michael flinches back. But Alex doesn’t look away.

“Either you forget or I leave?”

Michael just continues watching him like he can’t believe that Alex is saying what he is saying.

Alex continues to watch him until the magic pulses through him fast and vicious and demanding and Alex gasps in pain.

“Fine, fuck!” Michael says. “Tell me, and I promise to make myself forget.”

Alex nods his head and takes a deep breath.

He lets the magic pulse through him again and opens his mouth to speak.

“We’re stuck in a time loop,” Alex starts and Michael once again freezes, eyes on Alex. “It’s why we all bonded so fast because we’ve been stuck doing this over and over. This is the fortieth time, and,” Alex takes another deep breath, and he can’t look away from Michael’s eyes.

“And every single time I fall in love with you at first sight.”

Michael goes even more still if possible.

“And every single time you fall back in love with me. And every single time it feels like the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“_Alex_,” Michael says voice trembling.

“And every single time you die,” Alex continues voice cracking and he feels Michael shudder. “And I can’t go through that _again_. I can’t. I can’t. _I can_-”

Michael kneels up and leans forward and fits his hands around Alex’s face before he’s tugging him in and kissing him, hard and desperate and hungry and _wanting_.

Alex kisses him back immediately, biting against his mouth and sliding his hands into Michael’s hair and pulling him in close.

Michael pulls away, and presses their foreheads together.

“You love me,” he says sounding amazed.

Alex laughs wet and sad. “I do.”

“Fuck, Alex you know that I feel the same, how can you ask me-”

“Because I _can’t_-”

“How do you know it won’t be the same even if you keep me at arm’s length?”

“I don’t,” Alex whispers. “But this is the first time that I’ve tried.”

Michael pushes their foreheads together harder.

“It’s not fair,” Michael whispers.

“I know.”

“Promise me you’ll tell me how you feel once we stop this time loop.”

“I can’t,” Alex says voice cracking. “If we survive that means that not being with you saved you and I won’t jinx.”

“So you’re just never going to tell me the truth?”

“Not if it keeps you safe.”

Michael pushes away from Alex and gets to his feet.

Alex looks up at him and Michael just inhales deeply before closing his eyes.

Alex watches as he raises his hand and moves through the movements fast as though he wants to hurry up and get it over with.

Alex breathes out in relief and gets to his feet tucking the ring into his pocket.

Kyle starts stirring, groaning and Alex goes over to help him as Michael lowers his hands and blinks, looking confused.

“What just happened?” Michael asks.

“What do you last remember?” Alex asks as Kyle’s eyes flicker open.

“You punching Valenti in the face,” Michael says voice tinged with amusement.

Kyle groans, “Fuck, who taught you how to punch?”

“Guerin,” Alex says.

Michael smirks and says at the same time, “Me.”

They look at each other and smile and then look away.

Alex sighs and gets to his feet as Kyle starts sitting up.

“You touched the stone, maybe it messes with your memories?”

Michael’s eyes go wide, and Kyle starts to speak.

“I remember-”

Alex kicks him and Kyle stops talking but punches Alex in the thigh.

“What did I say?” Michael says looking reluctant.

“Nothing,” Alex says. “I took the ring from you, and the magic transfers on contact. I was able to break the spell.”

“How?” Kyle asks standing up and stretching his jaw.

Alex glares at him, but sighs when he meets Michael’s expectant eyes.

“I had to tell the absolute truth.”

Michael’s eyes snap to his, and Alex looks away to where Kyle gives him a sympathetic look.

“Let’s get outta here,” Michael says voice tight and strained. “I need a drink.”

“Me too,” Alex says sighing.

Kyle wraps an arm around his shoulders and Alex ignores the way that it makes Michael’s face pinch.

Alex closes his eyes and hopes that everything works out this time, because he doesn’t think he’ll be able to go through this again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> one of those alex doesn't walk away from michael after he chooses maria ficlets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written on 04/29/19

When Michael shows up at the Airstream, it’s dark and Alex is sitting down in front of the firepit, his elbows resting on his knees, hands curled beneath his chin as he stares into the fire.

It’s not that Michael forgot that he told Alex they’d talk today.

It was more that this particular conversation had the potential to shatter Michael beyond repair, and no matter how Alex has been talking recently, Michael doesn’t believe that Alex will stick around to help him put the pieces back together.

Alex looks up at him when he takes a step closer, and his face is shrouded in shadows, but his eyes are bright as they look at Michael intently before his gaze is caught by the necklace hanging from his neck.

Maria hadn’t understood why he couldn’t stick around and talk when he felt the connection with Max snap broken, but she had given him the necklace, tied it around his neck saying that he should come back and give it to her later, when he was ready to talk.

Michael tries not to think about how it feels like an anchor hanging from his neck as Alex’s brow furrows and then his face clears and his eyes dart up to Michael’s and then away.

The look in his eyes tells him that Alex is going to walk away again.

Alex stands up at that and stretches and Michael might be feeling like everything in his life is going to fall apart at any second but he can’t help but follow the lines of Alex’s body.

He knows that if he moves in and crowds into Alex’s space and kisses him that Alex will let Michael drag him to his bed and will lose himself in him because it was always so easy to forget how much it hurt when touching Alex felt like relief.

Alex sighs and rubs his hands through his hair that was already a mess.

“I wasn’t waiting all day if you’re worried about that,” he says and he sounds tired and he looks tired as Michael stares at him, and he turns and the light from the fire splashes across his face and brings the red split in his lip to the focus of Michael’s attention.

“What happened?” Michael demands stepping closer, and stops when Alex takes a step back as though he doesn’t want Michael to touch him.

Alex sighs and looks away.

“My father is in a coma. My brothers are handling it the only ways they know how.”

“By beating you up?”

Alex scoffs and throws Michael a look out of the corner of his eye. “I can take care of myself. Flint wanted to instigate a fight so I gave him one.”

“That’s no excu-”

“You don’t have to fight this battle for me, Guerin. You never did.”

Michael swallows hard and nods his head once in acknowledgement.

“Why’d you come back?” he asks instead.

Alex turns back to face him and gives him a serious look. “There’s something that I need to tell you now before everything starts getting even more out of hand and there’s no time or place for it.”

Michael swallows hard and wants to tell him that it’s too late for that, that things are already wildly out of control, because he doesn’t want to hear it if Alex is going to walk away for the last time, but Alex starts speaking.

“I’m not you. I can’t just sit back and be understanding and just let you walk away even if it’s what you need. I’m too selfish when it comes to you.”

Michael blinks at him in shock, eyes wide and on Alex as Alex takes steps towards him.

“So no matter what you do I’m not walking away, and I’m not going to let you walk away, not unless you tell me that you don’t want me, that you don’t want me in your life, that you don’t love me,” his voice cracks on the last two words, but he looks at Michael defiantly. “And mean it.”

Michael swallows hard.

“Now I know that right now things are complicated and we can’t have this conversation but when you’re ready, I’ll be waiting to talk.”

Alex steps up close and Michael can read him like an open book, he’s not hiding anything as he leans in close.

Michael expects to be kissed, but he can’t explain the shockwave of intense emotions that shudders through him when Alex places a kiss to his cheek, right against the corner of his mouth and presses something skin warm and metal with pointy edges into the palm of his hand.

“You know where to find me,” Alex whispers pressing his forehead to Michael’s temple. “Just don’t keep me waiting too long.”

Alex leaves then, and Michael stays frozen until the headlights flash across him, and only then does he tighten the fingers of his right hand around the key that Alex just gave him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> an antarian appears with the cure for maria's mom, he only asks for a memory of the person you love the most, from everyone in the group

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written on 06/08/19

The Antarian appears in the middle of the Wild Pony right in the space simmering with tension from an argument that could go either way, to the bedroom upstairs or to Maria kicking Michael out of the bar.

He doesn’t even move when Michael tries to push him back and with a snap of his fingers the bar is suddenly full of more people.

Liz and Max are both scrambling for cover, since they’re mostly naked. Kyle and Alex are also sweaty and out of breath, but they’re also wearing workout gear. Rosa is also in workout gear, but she’s not nearly as sweaty. Jenna is holding a taco in her hand and glaring at the Antarian. Isobel is perched on top of the bar in her underwear looking at all of them in disdain.

The alien introduces himself as Villo from Antar, and tells Maria, “I have the cure for your mother’s ailment in this bottle,” holding the bottle out for her to see.

Maria immediately raises her hands to grab it, but Michael is there dragging her backwards.

She pushes him away with a glare.

Villo shakes his head and closes his fingers around the small vial. “It is a priceless cure. For anything, but I am willing to part with it for the right price.”

Michael makes a noise like he knew it was too good to be true. “Oh yeah? And what’s that and w-?”

“-hy did you have to involve the rest of us?” Alex says interrupting and finishing Michael’s question, but doesn’t look his way.

Not that Michael has looked over at him since Alex stumbled to a stop and Kyle was there to help him keep his balance.

“I involved those who are already involved,” he says, which doesn’t really answer the question. “And the price is a cherished memory,” he continues smiling and stops looking right at Alex in a way that has Michael clenching his fists tightly.

“Of the person you love the most,” he finishes.

There is complete silence for a few minutes.

“Do we lose the memory?” Michael asks when no one says anything, but he can see the way that Maria is vibrating with the need to have that bottle in her hands.

“No,” he says. “But you’ll share it with everyone who is left. I’ll send you back to where I took you from once I get your memory.”

"And if-?” Michael starts licking his lips.

“-we don’t want to share a memory?” Alex finishes.

Maria makes a noise at the back of her throat, a scoffing incredulous sound, probably because this is the first time that Alex and Michael have been in the same room together since the truth about everything came out.

And while Michael might be used to Alex finishing his sentences and finding the words to say when Michael can’t find them, and vice versa, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t know that the others find it weird.

He avoids Isobel’s eyes and looks at Max who gives him a pointed look.

“I need one memory from each of you, or no deal.”

Maria steps forward and looks like she wants to say something but Michael hears Alex sigh deeply.

“Okay,” he says. “Let’s just-”

“-get this over with.” Michael finishes and ignores the sharp look that Maria throws at him.

“Wait a second,” Isobel says before anyone even moves. “Is it going to hurt? Because I don’t care enough about this issue to suffer for it.”

“Isobel!” Max snaps.

Isobel just shrugs her shoulders.

Villo laughs, “I’ll start with you princess.”

He says and then he’s standing right in front of her.

Michael crosses the space between them, but he’s not fast enough.

Villo presses his hands on either side of Isobel’s face and she gasps eyes falling shut, and then Michael can see Max crystal clear.

Thirteen years old and softly reading to Isobel since she’d been having bad dreams since the camping trip.

The memory is a little hazy, but Michael feels the intense and overwhelming amount of love that Isobel had for Max in that moment.

The memory fades and Michael blinks to see that Villo is stepping back from Isobel and bowing. “Thank you for sharing.”

Isobel’s eyes are wide and wet with tears and she looks from him to Michael, who is probably looking at her with the same look on his face and then her eyes go to Max.

She opens her mouth to say something, but before she can, Villo snaps and she’s gone.

Michael steps forward wanting to demand where she’d gone and Villo turns to him too fast.

“Thank you for volunteering to be next,” he says.

Before Michael can protest, he places his hands on Michael’s face.

Michael feels his entire body tense up as he gasps and the memory is pulled to the forefront of his mind immediately.

It’s Isobel, eleven years old, hugging Michael tightly, her face smushed into his shoulder. And Michael feels the overwhelming relief and happiness as he looks over to Max who is smiling gently at them, that they hadn’t forgotten about him.

Villo lets him go, and Michael falls back against the bar, knees turned to jelly.

“Thank you for sharing,” Villo says bowing slightly.

Michael watches him, blinking dazedly as he walks to Maria next.

Maria lifts her face to reach his hands faster, and then Michael sees Mimi, holding Maria tightly in her arms, humming a sweet song, and telling her that what everyone else thinks doesn’t matter. _It’s only what you think about yourself that matters._

Mimi’s voice washes over him leaving behind the intense feeling of love and determination.

Villo lets her go, and Maria stays catching herself on one of the stools, and she looks at Villo with wide eyes as he bows. “Thank you for sharing.”

Michael watches him step up to Liz and Max and how Max steps in front of Liz, offering to go first.

Villo presses his hands to Max’s face.

Michael sees a fourteen year old Liz, laughing hard and bright, and then looking across the room to catch Max’s eyes. The smile on her face widens a little and she waves at him before turning back to her friends.

Michael can feel the rush of love and so much happiness going through him, how he could tell that this was the moment that Max actually fell in love.

Villo steps away from Max bowing deeper than before. “Thank you for sharing.”

Max inclines his head and then he’s gone. Liz stumbles a little into the space he vacated but she lifts her face to Villo as he reaches for her.

Michael sits down on one of the stools and then he sees Rosa, age ten, as she guides Liz through the steps to dance salsa. Liz keeps messing up, but Rosa keeps laughing and telling her to try again and again until she gets it. Frustration sweeps through Michael, but it’s followed by Liz’s intense love and caring and wonderment of her big sister.

When Liz opens her eyes, she looks straight to Rosa, who sends her a smile back.

“Thank you for sharing,” Villo says, bowing.

As Liz disappears, Villo moves to Jenna who is still glaring, but lifts her face so that he can reach her.

Michael doesn’t recognize who the person is, but the resemblance is enough for him to guess that it’s her sister.

They’re holding hands as the roundabout goes faster and faster. Her sister tips her head back and laughs and Michael is hit with all of the affection and happiness that Jenna was feeling at that moment.

Villo pulls away from her, “Thank you for sharing.”

Jenna rolls her eyes, but sends Maria a nod before she disappears, stuffing the last of her taco in her mouth.

Villo turns and walks toward the last three.

It’s not until Kyle steps in front of Rosa, and Alex lets out another sigh leaning back against the pool table that Michael realizes that the last person to go is going to be Alex.

Michael feels his stomach clench even as he wonders who Alex could possibly love most in the world.

He knows what he wants the answer to be, but he also knows that he shouldn’t be wanting it. Not when-

He looks over to where Maria is leaning against the bar with her head in her hands and then he sees the Valenti’s, dancing together with what looks like a six year old Kyle squished between the two of them. They’re laughing together, and when Jim leans in and kisses his wife, sweetly on the side of her face, Kyle giggles, and Michael feels the love and affection and complete adoration that he has for both of his parents.

Michael looks back over as Villo bows.

“Thanks for sharing,” he says.

Kyle disappears and Rosa steps in place. “_Dale, avanza_.”

Villo presses his hands to her face, and Michael sees Liz and their father, sitting down on the couch and watching a movie, both of them looking at the screen in rapt attention. Rosa scares them and they both jump and she laughs even as her dad tugs her on top of them both and starts to tickle her while Liz climbs on top of her yelling happily.

Michael is surrounded by warmth and love and happiness.

But his heart starts to beat hard and fast in his chest, making him feel a little lightheaded and glad that he’s leaning against something as Villo steps away from Rosa.

Rosa disappears sending Maria a smile, and then there’s just Alex.

“Can I-?” Alex starts, but Villo interrupts him.

“No,” he says and then he’s placing his hands on Alex’s face.

But instead of the flash going through Michael’s head as soon as he touches him, he feels a slight pressure in his temples, and then a high pitched whining sound that makes him cringe.

His eyes are shut, but they fly open when Alex starts whimpering in pain.

“Don’t fight it,” Villo is saying, gritting his teeth.

The pressure gets stronger in Michael’s head, and then all of the lightbulbs in all of the light sockets burst into sparks.

Maria yelps and ducks down underneath the bar and Michael does the opposite.

He moves forward, feeling the adrenaline sweeping through his veins.

“Let him-” he starts, but then the pressure pops, and Alex gasps as he falls back against the pool table and Villo follows him, and then-

The flashes are too fast to actually give much details, but Michael feels a jolt go through his entire system when his face appears.

Michael, playing his guitar, talking about how it calms the chaotic entropy of his mind. Michael, smiling as he pulls away from their first kiss. Michael, naked with his back arched against the couch in the tool shed as Alex slides his mouth lower. Michael, cradling his hand against his chest as Jesse Manes drags Alex out of the tool shed. Michael, tears in his eyes begging Alex not to go. Michael, giving Alex a look from beneath the brim of his cowboy hat, eyes guarded. Michael, pressed against the wall head tipped back as Alex licks against his neck. Michael, ignoring Alex as Alex tells him that he has to do this. Michael, pulling him around in front of the Airstream, making him stumble a little on his bad leg. Michael, dragging him in hard and fast, slamming their mouths together. Michael, pressing his forehead to Alex’s and sliding his fingers into his hair. Michael, with tears in his eyes and an, _I never look away_. Michael, skin golden in the sunlight as he sleeps. Michael, walking away pulling his pants up over his hips. Michael, giving him a look, _Wanna go for a ride?_ Michael, on the large screen of a computer, his name typed beneath a Terrorist Alert. Michael, telling him to make it feel over. Michael, yelling, _cosmic_, when Alex struggles for a word. Michael, taking Alex down to his bunker. _If anyone is going to destroy me, it might as well be you._ Michael, looking at him, eyes wide and full of tears before he turns and heads into the prison. Michael, yelling, _I don’t love you! _Michael, turning away from the glass and reaching for Alex with trembling fingers and leaning heavily into him. _She’s my-my- Your mother._ Michael, shaking his head as Alex says that he looks into the mirror and sees his father. Michael, leaning into him as he reaches forward to kiss him. Michael, shaking his head, tears streaming down his face, _I can’t. It just. It hurts too much, right now. And I can’t. I’m sorry. I can’t. I love you, but I can’t._

And through it all, _through it all_, even through the hurt and the pain and what felt like the end of the world, all Michael can feel is love, love, love, love. Overwhelming and intense, and more than he’d ever thought _anyone _would be able to feel for him.

Michael hears Alex yell, and his eyes open.

Michael has no idea when he shut them but he looks to see that Alex has pushed Villo back and he’s on the floor, looking up at Alex with unfathomable eyes.

“I am sorry,” he says.

Michael’s eyes go from him to Alex who isn’t looking at Michael, but somewhere behind him, at Maria.

Michael closes his eyes again.

He doesn’t see it when Alex disappears, but he feels Villo pass beside him as he walks to Maria.

He hears the low clink of the bottle on top of the bar, and a low whisper before there is no other sound.

He doesn’t turn to look at Maria, but he hears it when she grabs the bottle.

“I think you should go,” Maria says into the heavy silence, voice trembling slightly.

Michael swallows hard, but doesn’t say anything as he walks out of the bar.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alex is packing his things to go, michael makes a dramatic declaration || parallel scene to the i never look away scene

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written on 06/30/19

Alex doesn’t turn around as the familiar sound of Michael’s truck screeches to a stop.

He puts the box into the open trunk of his car as he hears the truck door squeak open and close with a slam, making sure there’s still space for the rest that he’s got waiting on the porch.

“So it’s true,” Michael says sounding out of breath. “You are leaving.”

Alex doesn’t respond as he walks towards the porch.

Michael stops him right at the stairs, turning him around, and Alex looks at him directly for the first time in over six months.

It hadn’t been hard to limit their interactions, especially after Alex had managed to hand over all relevant information found on the Caulfield drives to him and Liz.

He’d heard that they’d managed to bring Max back, but with a bad case of retrograde amnesia.

He had almost answered the phone that night when Michael had called him over and over, but when he listened to the first voice mail it was to hear several concerned voices in the background and he had figured that he wasn’t actually needed not when Michael was surrounded by people who cared about him.

It was also the reason why Alex hadn’t told anyone but Kyle that he was moving.

Michael doesn’t need him anymore, so Alex doesn’t really understand why he’s here.

Michael is watching him with those wide, wet eyes, red rimmed and bloodshot and looking like he hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in months. It makes something ache deep in his chest to see him like that. His hands itch with the urge to touch him, to pull him in close and hold him until everything feels okay again.

But that’s not an option anymore.

Alex clenches his fingers into fists and pulls away from Michael.

“Why are you here?” Alex asks, and takes a step back, until he feels the first step right behind him.

Michael gives him a disbelieving look, “Are you really leaving Roswell?”

Alex scoffs and rolls his eyes, “Yeah, totally.”

Michael takes a step forward and Alex climbs up to the first step, reaching out to put one hand on the railing.

Michael stops moving and swallows hard. “Seriously?”

Alex scoffs again.

“No,” and then he shakes his head and raises an eyebrow. “There are people here that still need me.”

Michael exhales roughly, and Alex almost cracks under the look of relief that crosses his face.

“Good,” Michael replies, and Alex really has no interest to follow the rest of this script, not when the last time that they talked face to face Michael told Alex that loving him was the worst thing that ever happened to him

“Why are you here?” Alex asks again, hands clenched to fists at his sides.

Michael inhales deeply and licks his lips.

"I’m sorry-” he starts but Alex cuts him off.

“If I wanted to hear an apology, Guerin,” he says as he takes another step up. “I would’ve listened to the other fifteen voicemails you left that nigh-”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t listening to what you were trying to say,” Michael cuts him off, and Alex stops moving, stops _breathing_, and stares at him as Michael steps closer when he notices that he has Alex’s full attention.

“I didn’t want to hear what you were trying to say,” he continues. “After everything that happened, after watching you walk away, again and again, I didn’t think you meant it, so I refused to actually listen. But also-”

He cuts himself off, taking another step closer and looking up at Alex, eyes wide and honest.

“I wasn’t ready to hear it,” he finishes, and Alex inhales sharply reaching out to hold on to the railing again.

“I waited so long for you to be ready, that when you finally were, I freaked out. I didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t just about everything that happened and it wasn’t just _you_, and I’m sorry I let you believe that it was all your fault.”

Alex exhales shakily swallowing hard.

“Guerin,” he starts, but Michael cuts him off again, stepping up on the first step, and grabbing the railing fingers just barely touching Alex’s.

“I came here because I overheard Valenti telling Liz that you were moving, and I couldn’t let you go without letting you know that I’m sorry that I made you believe that I’ve ever looked away when it’s the furthest thing from the truth.”

He moves up one more step and Alex can’t help the way that he sways wanting to move closer. He feels like his heart is about to leap from his chest, but he forces himself to keep still, because he has a feeling that Michael isn’t done yet.

“I love you, Alex,” he says and Alex freezes. “I’ve always loved you, and I will continue to love you no matter what happens. You’re it for me, and I want you to stay, right where I can find you, where I can see you, even if you never want to hear from me again.”

Alex swallows hard, and he can’t find the words to say, which he knows is one of the things that he has to work on when it comes to Michael, but he reaches for him, fingers clenching into the fabric of Michael’s t-shirt.

Michael exhales in relief and slides his arms around Alex’s waist, pressing his face to Alex’s chest and exhaling.

Alex makes a noise low in his throat and Michael’s arms tighten around him.

Alex slides his fingers into Michael’s hair, and he kind of feels like maybe he’s dreaming.

He tugs on Michael’s hair, until Michael looks up at him, blinking wet and tired eyes at him.

“Say it again,” he demands tightening his fingers in Michael’s hair.

“I love-”

Alex leans down and steals the rest of the words right out of his mouth.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> fluffy, getting back together ficlet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written on 07/03/19

Alex laughs, throwing his head back as he giggles helplessly, and Michael feels a flutter of butterflies in his stomach as he watches him.

“I miss you,” he blurts out.

Alex sits up, pressing his lips together to stop the giggles, and his cheeks are flushed and his eyes are bright and happy.

“I haven’t gone anywhere,” Alex says and reaches forward to grab his half finished beer. “And I see you practically every day.”

Michael stares at him as he tips the beer into his mouth, and thinks about a way to explain what he means.

Alex sets the empty bottle down, and gives Michael a quizzical look, “Are we not watching the movie anymore?”

He’s leaning forward again to grab the remote, probably to pause the movie, when Michael speaks.

“I miss kissing you.”

Alex stops moving, but doesn’t turn to look at Michael.

Michael watches the side of his face as he keeps talking.

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. Ever since you kissed me on the cheek two weeks ago after I dropped you home. You had frozen for a second, right there, and I had thought that you were going to kiss me for real, and my heart was trying to beat out of my chest and I’ve been waiting for you to make a move ever since.”

Alex sits back at that, and just looks at him, so Michael just keeps talking.

“I miss touching you any time that I want,” he confesses, and sees the way that Alex seems to turn to stone on the couch. “It’s been getting bad lately. I mean, we’ve gotten to the point where a hug or a hand on your shoulder doesn’t make you avoid me for a few days, but I have to stop myself from tucking your hair back behind your ear since you started keeping it longer, and I have to stop myself from reaching out and grabbing your hand, and I have to stop myself from pulling you in close and giving you a place to lean on when you look tired and about ready to fall apart. I’ve been trying so hard the last couple of weeks to act like a friend is supposed to, but it’s hard, when lately, I don’t feel like I like you the way that a friend is supposed to.”

Alex’s eyes are still wide and on him, and he doesn’t seem to be breathing, and Michael keeps talking to stop the silence from drowning him in regret.

“I mean, I always thought it was impossible for us to be friends, but then it happened, and I couldn’t be happier, but it’s not enough. I like you, and I like spending time with you, and I’d be okay with it if you just want us to be friends, but you have to know that I want more, and you have to tell me if there’s a chance that you could feel the same way about me again, because it’s killing me when you get too drunk to watch the way you stare at me, and I need a sig-”

Alex’s fingers are cold when they press against the skin of the back of his hand, and Michael stops talking like he hit a verbal wall.

He blinks his eyes and focuses his eyes back on Alex.

Michael feels like all the air is being pushed out of his lungs.

Alex is staring at him like he does when he’s too drunk to stop himself, with his heart shining in his eyes, looking at Michael like he did when they were seventeen and Michael had told him that he’s never felt about anyone the way that he feels about him, looking at him like he _loves _him, like he’s _never_ stopped loving him.

He exhales roughly and Alex slides his hand up to Michael’s shoulders, and his cold fingers slide to the back of Michael’s neck, and Michael moves when Alex tugs, and he lifts his head slightly, and Alex slides his hands into his hair and kisses him.

A soft chaste press of lips to Michael’s lips that strikes through him like a bolt of lightning that makes the hairs stand up on his arms, and makes his heart start beating too fast in his chest, and makes all of the air catch in his lungs.

Alex moves back, and Michael’s eyes flutter open, and he sees Alex, staring at his mouth, bottom lip trapped between his teeth.

His eyes dart up to Michael’s, and Michael can’t help the smile that tugs against the corners of his mouth.

“I miss you too,” Alex breathes.

Michael moves then, dragging his fingers into Alex’s hair, the longer strands giving him a firmer grip as he pulls him back in and kisses him again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> exasperated squad plots an intervention for the lovebirds in denial, michael and alex

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written on 07/10/19

“We’ve got to do something about this,” Kyle says sliding into the booth beside Isobel and across from Maria and Max. 

Liz is behind the counter helping her dad out during the lunch rush, and Michael and Alex-

Michael and Alex are sharing a milkshake in another booth looking for all intents and purposes like they’re on a date.

But Kyle is willing to put his life on the line on the fact that if asked, they will both give the asker incredulous looks and answer in perfect synchronicity. “We’re just friends,” and then turn to each other and say jinx at the same time, and then have to battle it out in a thumb wrestling match that Alex _always _wins.

“About what?” Isobel asks already looking like she’s trying to figure out a way to get out of whatever Kyle hasn’t said they have to do.

“That,” he says and signals to where Alex is wiping some spilled milkshake from Michael’s chin with a finger and then licking it clean with his thumb.

“Oh god yes,” Isobel says immediately on board. “It’s driving me nuts! Michael destroyed my kitchen this morning to make him breakfast in bed, and when I asked him if Alex was really that good in bed, he gave me a lecture about how sometimes people do nice things for others for no reason with no ulterior motives and then left in a huff. So they’re definitely not having sex, and Michael is _definitely _not having sex with anyone else, which should be a red flag in his book, but he’s being stupid and shuts me down every time I bring up the topic.”

“You think breakfast in bed is bad,” Max says. “Alex came over last week when Michael was taking a nap on my couch, and he just collapsed on the couch right on top of Michael, and Michael didn’t even protest, just moved to accommodate him and then they were both asleep within seconds. When I suggested that he should take his napping sessions to his boyfriend’s cabin, he gave me a lecture about making assumptions that someone queer is dating their friend only because they are the same sex and super close.”

“Michael’s been teaching Alex how to play pool,” Maria says rolling her eyes when Kyle looks at her expectantly.

Kyle makes a face. “Alex already knows how to play pool.”

“I know,” Maria says sounding exasperated. “It’s been going on for the last month though. And Alex literally punched someone in the face last week for implying that Michael was easy, and that’s not to mention the fact that Michael keeps glaring if anyone so much as _looks _at Alex with anything but polite disinterest.”

“Michael almost punched _me _in the face the other day for telling Alex that he looked really good in his black skinny jeans,” Isobel says scoffing.

“He did punch me in the face for saying the same thing,” Kyle says making a face. “And then they got into an argument, which somehow ended with Alex agreeing to go to the bunker with Michael for the rest of the day even though he had other plans.”

“Ugh,” Liz is saying as she reaches their table and drops plates of food, and gives Kyle a look like she’s daring him to order something. “Something needs to be done about the lovebirds in denial over there.”

Everyone turns to see Michael and Alex drinking from the same milkshake, looking into each other’s eyes.

“Jesus,” Isobel says. “I’m just going to go into their heads and influence them to confess their feelings to each other.”

“No!” Liz, Maria and Kyle all say at the same time, loud enough that it gathers everyone’s attention for a second, but not Michael and Alex, them being too lost in each other’s eyes to notice if the world ends around them.

Isobel just pouts and sits back with her arms crossed. “Spoilsports.”

“Anyway,” Liz says. “It’s not like they _haven’t _confessed their feelings to each other.”

“Very true,” Kyle says sighing. “Just yesterday after we dropped Michael off at the Airstream, he pressed a kiss to Alex’s cheek and told him that he loved him, and Alex said it back with a bright smile.”

“Not to mention the _twelve _dramatic confessions that only happen when one of them is in a life threatening situation,” Maria says rolling her eyes.

“And that stupidly endearing thing they do, when they realize that the other is alive, and just stand there in the middle of it all, with their foreheads pressed together just breathing like there aren’t more important things to worry about,” Isobel says sounding bitter since the last time that had happened had been when Isobel had gotten kidnapped.

They had neutralized the danger, but had left Isobel tied up while they regained their equilibrium together.

Max licks his lips. “Do we really think they’re that stupid-?”

“Yes!” he’s cut off immediately by Liz, Kyle, Maria and Isobel.

“We can lock them up somewhere together,” Kyle suggests.

“Michael literally has a lockpick in his brain,” Isobel says scoffing.

“We can surround the space with the power neutralizing pollen?” Liz suggests wrinkling her nose at the thought.

“It still wouldn’t work,” Isobel says. “Do you really think that they’ll get _any _talking done if we lock them up in a room together? They sleep with the door open when they share my guest room like they’re afraid of what will happen if they close the door.”

Max and Kyle both make a face at that.

“I vote that we stage an intervention,” Isobel says. “Where we sit them down and explain to them that they are dating, so they should just bang it out already.”

“You’re way too invested in whether or not they have sex,” Max says giving Isobel a look.

Isobel rolls her eyes. “One of us needs to have an adventerous sex life I can live vicariously through, and it’s definitely not going to be you.”

Both Liz and Max sputter at that, and Isobel just rolls her eyes.

“Sorry, but even if did want to hear what you’ve been up to, I’m not into Liz like that. Alex on the other hand-”

“Nope,” Kyle says holding his hand up. “I don’t feel like having another person talking to me about how hot Alex is.”

“Afraid you might like it a little too much, Valenti?” Isobel asks raising an eyebrow.

Kyle just ignores her.

“Can we stop talking about Alex and sex in the same sentence?” Max asks pleadingly. “Michael has a sixth sense for things like that, and I don’t feel like getting punched in the face today.”

“I agree with the intervention idea,” Maria says. “But maybe we should ease them into the idea that they are dating, wouldn’t want either one of the to get spooked and run in the opposite direction once they realize they’re in an actual adult relationship,” she finishes off on a bitter note.

“Okay,” Kyle says. “But maybe we should take this conversation somewhere else, I think Michael figured out we’ve been talking about how hot Alex is.”

They all look over to see Michael glaring in their direction like he’s trying to figure something out, while Alex dips fries into his milkshake and feeds them to Michael.

They all disperse like ants in the rain, and Kyle watches them as he leaves, narrowing his eyes when Alex tilts his head towards Michael with a conspiratorial look on his face.

If he really sits down and thinks about, Kyle thinks that Alex would be the type of person who would keep a relationship a secret just to fuck with people, but Michael wouldn’t be able to keep getting together with Alex a secret from anyone.

Intervention it is then, he thinks and shakes his head as Michael turns to Alex with a wide bright smile. 

Something really needs to be done since they’re practically acting like an old married couple.

*

Alex waits until everyone is gone and Liz is back behind the counter and turns to look at Michael.

“So, do you think we should tell them that we heard every single word they said?”

“Nope,” Michael says playing with the straw for the milkshake.

“Okay,” Alex says taking the glass away from Michael so that he looks at Alex.

Michael just smiles. “Let them sweat it out a little bit since they’re all so invested in whether or not we’re dating.”

“So we’re not going to tell them that we _are _dating?” Alex asks tilting his head.

“Nope,” Michael says again. “Because we’re not dating. I have a certificate that very much proves that we’re not dating, so they can just deal.”

Alex just looks at Michael and then shakes his head laughing. “Alright, whatever you want, Mr. Guerin.”

Michael’s hand drops down beneath the table, and he squeezes Alex’s thigh, before he leans in even closer to whisper in his ear. “We’ll tell them eventually, I just want this to be between us for now, Mr. Guerin.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alex finally makes a move because he's been influenced by isobel's emotions, michael puts a stop to it because he needs alex to be sure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written on 07/16/19

One second Michael is underneath the engine of Mrs. Gunther’s thousand year old Ford, and the next there are hands wrapped around his ankles rolling him out from beneath the car.

Michael leans up on his elbows making the creeper rock even more, but before he can say anything, Alex is dropping into his lap, sliding his fingers to the back of Michael’s neck, and pulling him into a hot kiss that’s all tongue and teeth, deep and wet and biting.

Michael slides his hands around Alex’s waist, pressing them against his back and pulling him in tighter opening his mouth to be devoured before he remembers that they don’t do this anymore.

He pulls away from Alex, and Alex slides his mouth down his neck, biting kisses to his throat and making Michael hiss at the _pleasurepain _sensation that flares out throughout his entire body.

“Fuck,” he moans, and Alex makes an encouraging sound at the back of his throat, rocking his hips down and sending the creeper moving backwards a little.

Michael sets his feet on the ground to keep it from moving any further, and gasps. “Alex, wait! Stop!”

Alex drops his hands from the back of Michael’s neck and sits up.

Michael’s eyes widen as he sees the blood that looks fresh coating the collar of his shirt, and what looks like an old scar on his neck.

“Alex,” Michael demands, reaching for him, and tugging against the collar of his shirt. “You told me it was a simple recon mission.”

“It was,” Alex says gnawing at his bottom lip and looking intently at Michael’s mouth. “We got into a little trouble, but nothing we couldn’t handle.”

“It looks like someone tore open your carotid artery,” Michael says not liking how wet his shirt feels.

“They did,” Alex confirms. “I almost died, and it made me realize just how fucking stupid I was being keeping you at arms length for stupid fucking reasons when all I want is to kiss you and touch you and hold you close and never let you go again.”

He whispers the last couple of words and his eyes flutter close and Michael’s fingers tighten in the collar of his shirt.

It would be so easy to just forget about everything and continue to kiss Alex, but something about all of this still feels a little odd.

“I know that Valenti is good, but he’s not that good.”

Alex’s eyes snap open and he gives Michael a confused look.

Michael taps against the healed scar with his finger, and the confusion clears from Alex’s eyes.

“Isobel healed me.”

Michael freezes and looks at Alex’s neck, covered in dried blood, at the thick scar that looks several weeks old, and narrows his eyes as though he can make the handprint appear by sheer force of will.

“I didn’t know Isobel was going with you,” Michael says in a low voice.

“She didn’t want you to know,” Alex responds immediately. “She said that you would come and just try to coddle her, and she needed to do this herself.”

“Where is she, right now?” Michael asks, and Alex makes a face.

“She had me drop her off at the Wild Pony and apologized, saying that she’s sorry, but she can’t wait anymore,” he licks his bottom and his eyes drop down again to Michael’s mouth.

Michael swallows hard. “You should stand up.”

“What?” Alex asks furrowing his brow and looking at Michael in confusion. “Why?”

“What is Isobel feeling right now?”

Alex’s face scrunches up and he looks even more confused at the question. “Why are we talking about Isobel when you could be kissing me instead?”

Michael exhales roughly. He needs to think clearly and more importantly, he needs _Alex _to think clearly.

“Just, humor me,” Michael sighs, and Alex just exhales roughly and closes his eyes, brow furrowing in concentration.

“I can barely feel her,” he says. “Like an echo right at the back of my head, and she’s fine, more than fine actually.”

His eyes snap open and he looks at Michael with wide eyes. “Pretty sure she’s having sex.”

“Yeah,” Michael says, because of course that would be the reason for all of this.

“She’s influencing your emotions right now,” Michael says, voice tight, and Alex opens his mouth to argue.

“Don’t even try to explain,” Michael says, making Alex’s mouth shut with a click. “Why are you here?”

“Because I wanted to see you,” Alex answers immediately. “I always want to see you after missions, helps me remember what I’m fighting for.”

Michael stares at Alex, words stuck in his throat as he scrambles to find something to say.

“This isn’t her, okay?” Alex starts speaking, reaching for Michael and frowning when Michael just wraps his fingers around his wrists and tugs his hands down to his lap. “I can feel her, yes, her easy confidence, and relief at the fact that she didn’t make things worse with Maria, and yeah, maybe the urge to just shut you up and fuck you right out here where anyone can catch us is coming from the fact that she’s most definitely getting off right now, but it’s not like it’s a new feeling. I always want you.”

His voice drops down low at the last sentence and Michael swallows hard as his brain short circuits as Alex licks his bottom lip, and his eyes go half lidded as he continues to speak.

“It was so _hard_,” he says and rocks his hips down a little, making Michael hiss, and reach down to still their movement. “To pretend that I didn’t when all I wanted was to kiss you and prove to you that you were mine. And it got even harder when you were single and coming around telling me that you wanted me back, and I just. I didn’t want our old relationship. I wanted something _better_. Something built on trust and communication, not fear and sex. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t want it, and that I don’t miss it. God, Michael, you came over last Saturday for a reason that I don’t even remember anymore, and it was so _hot _and you were sweating so much that your shirt was sticking to your chest, and all I wanted to do was lick you and drag you inside of the cabin and fuck you into my mattress. I pulled open my jeans and jerked off before you even started the tru-”

“Jesus, Alex! Okay,” Michael says cutting him off, and pressing his hands harder against his hips. “You want me. I get it. How do I know you won’t regret this later?”

“I won’t,” Alex responds quickly, reaching for Michael again, and this time his fingers wind in Michael’s hair as he tugs him in close. “I swear I won’t. I won’t. _I won’t_.”

Michael shakes his head. “I want to believe you. You have no idea how much I _want _but we can’t, not until you’re sure.”

Alex whines and drops his forehead to Michael’s. “I’m sure,” he whispers voice low and pleading. “Fuck, baby, I’m so fucking sure.”

Michael bites down on his lip hard. “Fuck, Alex, you’re not playing fair.”

Alex swallows and opens his mouth to say something else that will probably crack through all of Michael’s excuses, but Michael lets go of his hips and reaches up to cover his mouth.

“If we do this,” Michael says and Alex makes a noise at the back of his throat, lips moving against Michael’s hand. “There’s no going back. If we cross this line again, either we’re trying this for real, or we’re never doing this again.”

Alex stops moving, eyes wide and unblinking and on Michael.

Michael stares back at him.

“You need to be _sure_, and more than that, _I _need you to be sure.”

Alex continues to stare at him for a long moment, before his eyes shudder close, and Michael feels how he trembles on top of him.

He opens his mouth against Michael’s palm, and presses a wet kiss against it, making Michael’s fingers spasm in his hold.

He drags Michael’s hand away from his mouth, and opens his eyes nodding his head. “Okay, okay.”

He stands up then, and Michael’s hands drop to his lap, the creeper moving slightly when Alex’s weight lifts off him.

He turns and heads towards the open door of the Airstream, and Michael watches him in confusion as he walks forward purposely.

“What are you doing?” Michael asks swallowing hard.

Alex turns and gives him a look, before he shakes his head and looks somewhere over Michael’s head.

“I’m _so _hard,” he admits in a low voice that short circuits Michael’s brain all over again. “And I’m too fucking turned on to think straight or even drive straight, so I need to do something about that before I go.”

Michael stares at him as he enters the Airstream, and neglects to shut the door.

Which Michael figures out he did entirely on purpose when he hears Alex moan low and wrecked like he’s fucking gagging for it.

Michael closes his eyes and he can see him perfectly in his head, left leg braced against the plywood headboard, right leg splayed open and bent at the knee, one hand wrapped around his cock as he fucks his fist fast and sloppy not being able to help it because he _needs _it so bad.

Michael _wants _so badly that his entire body clenches tightly, and he feels the tingles spreading from the base of his neck down the length of his spine as Alex’s moans get louder, and he can just make out the faint sound of him jerking himself off.

Michael pulls his bottom lip into his mouth and reminds himself that this is a bad idea.

Alex moans again and Michael reaches with one hand and shuts the door with a slam, making the Airstream rock a little.

It does nothing to muffle the sounds Alex makes, but Michael forces himself to slide back beneath the hood of Mrs. Gunther’s car and continue to work.

He gets nothing done until Alex leaves, and when he falls into his bed hours later, all he can smell is Alex and sex.

*

Michael isn’t exactly expecting Alex to come back. He expects to get a flustered message and a reassurance that it won’t happen again, which is why he’s surprised when he gets pulled out from beneath the hood of Mr. Peterson’s gas-guzzling monstrosity, and once again gets a lapful of Alex before he can ask what’s happening.

Alex’s fingers dig into the back of his neck, and he starts speaking before Michael can say anything.

“I waited until it was gone, and I waited a whole other day to make sure, and I’m sure. I want this. Want you. We have the trust and we’re working on the whole communication thing, and I think that’s all going pretty well, but if I have to go another _minute _without your mouth on mine I think I might just die-”

Michael slides his arms around Alex, and tugs him in closer, tilting his head and sliding their mouths together, feeling overwhelming relief and hunger.

Alex slides his fingers into Michael’s hair and pulls him back, parting their mouths with a low gasp to continue _talking_. “But if you-if you don’t want to ruin what we have right now, I-I would under-”

“Fucking ruin it,” Michael says sliding his hands into Alex’s hair. “Fucking _wreck _me Alex, but just don’t fucking _leave_. Ever.”

“Never,” Alex promises and seals it with a kiss.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> written because the planetary alignments turns aliens into sex crazed idiots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written on 07/19/19

Maria walks out of the Airstream slamming the door behind her and tries not to let the embarrassment at the fact that everyone she knows is sitting around the campfire _waiting _make her cry when she can already feel the tears burning her retinas.

She refuses to cry about this because it’s fucking stupid.

She fixes the collar of her shirt pointedly, and walks over to where Isobel is cradling a bottle of whiskey in her lap. She grabs the bottle and drops down into the seat next to Isobel and takes a long drink, before she pulls the bottle from her lips to speak. 

“It didn’t work,” she says to Liz and Max’s expectant faces and Isobel and Kyle’s disgusted ones. 

As if to prove her point, the air ripples around the Airstream and then seems to sink to the floor and shake the ground in vibrations not unlike aftershocks.

Kyle makes a face, “Maybe he needs-”

“I tried _everything_,” Maria says pointedly, taking another sip from the bottle only to have it snatched out of her hands by Isobel who wrinkles her nose in Maria’s direction.

“Yeah, we heard,” she says and takes a large swallow from the bottle.

Maria feels her cheeks heat up in embarrassment again, but the last couple of days have been proof of how little shame and modesty the Evans’ and Michael actually had around each other.

“What about the handprint?” Liz asks, moving so that she can easily get up and go over to Maria if she needs her, meaning detangling her hands from Max’s.

Maria takes the bottle back from Isobel and takes another long swallow, “He refused.”

Liz bites down on her bottom lip, while Max looks over to the Airstream where they can all hear the faint whimpering coming from Michael in his state of hyperarousal that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.

“I don’t get it,” Liz says finally, sounding frustrated. “It should’ve worked. I know you guys are having problems, but you love each other.”

“Love isn’t enough, apparently,” Isobel says taking the bottle from Maria as Maria looks away from them all towards the entrance of the junkyard.

Maria had been hoping, deep inside that while their feelings for each other weren’t anywhere near the epicness that was Max and Liz, that at least maybe it would’ve been enough to help Michael through this, when just sex wasn’t doing the job.

Liz had called her three nights ago to warn her that Michael was probably going to come searching for her, and while he did come to the bar, since they were in the middle of one of their off stages, Michael had left with anyone and everyone who gave him the eye, even coming back multiple times a night and leaving with multiple people.

Liz and Max had locked themselves up in his house for a full forty-eight hours before everything was back to normal, just with more nauseatingly cute PDA while the multiple handprints that Max had put on her fade. 

Isobel had locked herself in her room with several toys and had told everyone afterwards that of course she was fine, she’d been learning who she is and learning to love _herself_, so that was all that she needed.

Michael on the other hand kept getting worse, and worse, and worse, until he was too physically and mentally tired that he passed out for eighteen hours before waking up with an extremely high fever in a state of hyperarousal and occasionally losing control of his powers.

Liz had called Maria, and Maria had come, and she had only agreed to help because Michael was lucid enough to give her consent.

“What do we do now, then?” Kyle says, slumping back in his seat with a look on his face like he knows exactly where this is going and he doesn’t really like it.

Maria also has a feeling she knows where this is going, but she’s refusing to acknowledge it.

“I still say you try again and this time convince him to mark you,” Liz says, sounding both hopeful and pessimistic.

“What about-?” Max starts and then stops with a soft grunting sound, which means that Liz elbowed him in the stomach, and that also means that Liz knows exactly what he was going to say.

Before anyone can say anything, a car drives through the fence gates, fast enough that the entire fence rattles with it.

The very familiar SUV makes Maria’s heart drop down to her stomach. The car screeches to a stop, very narrowly missing both Maria’s truck and Max’s jeep.

Alex stumbles out of the driver’s seat without turning the car off and walks forward purposely. He doesn’t even seem to notice everyone else.

He looks like he rolled out of bed, slipped on his prosthetic and walked out of the door.

His hair is a mess, he looks like he hasn’t slept in days, he needs to shave, and he’s wearing sweats and a plain white shirt that has old oil stains down the front, and he’s not wearing any shoes.

He makes it halfway to the Airstream before Kyle realizes that he’s just gonna walk in there and hurries to stop him.

Maria bites down on her lip as Alex turns to Kyle and blinks at him blankly for a few seconds as though he doesn’t recognize him.

“Are you okay?” Kyle asks, sounding worried, and peering into Alex’s eyes intently.

Alex shuts his eyes tight and shakes his head twice before he opens them again and blinks rapidly looking at Kyle and then at his surroundings before he notices everyone else and his eyes snap back to Kyle.

“What?” Alex asks and takes a step back. “What is going on? Why are you all here? Why am _I _here?”

“You don’t know how you got here?” Kyle says and makes Alex tilt his head so that he can look at his eyes again.

Alex furrows his brow and blinks rapidly again. “This is going to sound crazy, since I’m not an alien, but I _swear _it’s like, I could feel Michael calling for me. I tried to go to sleep to see if I could just block it out, but I guess that didn’t work.”

He slows the flow of his speech and looks over to everyone again, his eyes catching Maria’s before he looks hurriedly away.

Maria looks to Liz who is looking back at her with her lip trapped between her teeth, while Max is looking at Alex with something close to relief.

Isobel passes the bottle over to Maria without a word.

“Why don’t you sit down,” Liz says finally, looking away from Maria. “It’s kind of a lot.”

Maria exhales roughly, and takes another large swallow of the whiskey. She’s going to need to not be sober if they’re going to have this conversation.

* * *

Alex sits quietly and listens intently to Liz use science to explain how the planetary alignment turned their resident aliens into sex crazed idiots for a couple of days, but that Michael apparenlty, is still being affected even though the planets are no longer in alignment.

Liz starts explaining what they’re all doing here, and Alex just drops his head into his hands, exhaling roughly.

She trails off the longer he keeps his head in his hands, and then there is blessed silence for a few minutes while Alex tries to figure out a plan of action. 

He already _knows _what he’s going to do, but he’d prefer to do it without an audience.

He hears someone standing and then there is something cold and glasslike pressing to his arm.

He looks up and sees Maria, who pulls the bottle from his arm, and offers it to him.

Alex licks his lips and swallows hard before he takes the bottle from her hands, lifting it in thanks.

He takes a long swig and exhales. 

“He came to see me three nights ago,” Alex admits, and it seems like everyone is holding their breath waiting to see what he’s going to say next. Alex really hates all of this, but if he’s going to get them to leave him alone, he’s going to have to give them something.

“He was acting different than normal,” he says, and looks at the bottle in his hands to refuse looking at everyone else while he speaks as fast as he can. “And when he tried to kiss me and told me what he wanted, I told him to go find someone else to be his one night stand because he wasn’t getting anything from me.”

“So he went to the Pony,” Maria says, and Alex looks up at the tone of her voice. “And found lots of someone else’s to be his one night stands.”

She has her brow furrowed and is looking over at the Airstream, like if she concentrates enough she’ll be able to tell what Michael is thinking right now.

“That’s why it didn’t work,” Maria says looking over at Alex before her gaze skips to Liz, who Alex can see has a guilty relieved look on her face.

“Because I’m not the one that he needs,” she finishes the same odd tone to her voice. She looks away from everyone swallowing hard and then levers herself up from her seat.

“I have to go,” she states decisively.

“I’ll go with you,” Isobel says immediately.

Alex moves to stand from his seat, looking at Maria, who refuses to look in his direction.

“Maria-” he starts, and then freezes in his seat as he hears his name being called out.

He hears Maria say something that he can’t really hear over the rushing sound in his ears, and he can feel how all the hairs at the back of his neck and down his arms are raised, and he knows that if he turns around, Michael will be standing right at the entrance of the Airstream.

“Alex,” he says again, and Alex can hear it reverberating in his head, and it sounds like a man dying of thirst finally finding an oasis. 

Alex closes his eyes tight, and tries to concentrate on the rest of the conversation, but something urges him to turn around and look, and he does without hesitation.

He hears Maria’s truck start up and then speed too fast for the engine, as she leaves, but that’s the last thing that he’s aware of that doesn’t have anything to do with Michael.

As soon as he turns and his eyes lock onto Michael’s it’s like the entire world narrows down to him and him alone.

Alex feels all the air leave his lungs, and he feels the urge to get closer, so he moves, getting out of his seat, and turning fully to face him.

Michael is breathing heavily, and his hands are curled around the entrance, like he’s holding himself back. He’s drenched in sweat with his hair plastered to his face, and he looks like he might fall to the floor at any moment, but his eyes are clear and on Alex.

“What are you doing here?” He asks, voice completely wrecked.

“You called for me,” Alex says, and moves closer, almost tripping over the chair, if Michael hadn’t flicked it out of the way with an irritated absent gesture. “Why didn’t you tell me-?”

“I told you,” Michael interrupts him letting go of the entrance and dropping down from the steps. “I told you that I needed-”

“I thought you were just looking for something easy, with someone who already wants you, since you and Maria were-” Alex says taking another step forward.

“There’s _nothing _easy about you,” Michael says almost snarling, as he moves closer. “I went to you without even thinking about it. Liz explained what was going on and I just drove and then I was at your door and you told me to go aw-”

“Because I thought all you wanted from me was sex, and I’m _not _going to have sex with you if that’s all you want from me!”

“I fucking love you,” Michael says and reaches for Alex, hands grabbing on to his shirt collar as Alex closes the space between them, drops his forehead to Michael’s, hands wrapping tightly right above his elbows. “It will _never _just be sex between the two of us,” Michael whispers voice low and whiny at the back of his throat. “Alex-”

Alex shakes his head. “How do I know you really mean that when all you want right now is to-?”

Michael moves one hand from where it’s clenched on Alex’s shirt, and slides it up to press his sweltering palm against the skin of Alex’s neck.

Alex stops speaking as Michael looks at him intently.

“There is one way, but you’ll feel _everything _that I’m feeling right now.”

Alex swallows hard and looks into Michael’s eyes.

“It can’t be a one time thing,” he says, and Michael sways into him, lifting his other hand to cup Alex’s face in his hands. “And you have to-”

“I promise,” Michael whispers nodding his head. “But you _can’t_-”

“I won’t,” Alex promises and wraps his arms tightly around Michael pulling him in even closer. “And we both have to-”

“We will,” Michael swears, and nudges his nose to Alex’s, and Alex exhales shakily.

“Okay,” he says, decisively. “Do it.”

* * *

Kyle leans against Max’s jeep and stares as Michael’s hand lights up against Alex’s neck, sending them both crashing to their knees at the intensity of what they’re feeling or however that works.

He purses his mouth and wonders exactly what they talked about before deciding to do this but either way he hopes this doesn’t end up with Alex drinking himself to sleep, again.

Liz and Max finally move when Alex lunges at Michael, pressing their mouths together in a way that looks painful as Michael drops back to the ground dragging Alex on top of him.

Liz has a thoughtful look on her face, while Max looks like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders.

“You think it’s gonna work this time?” Kyle asks, ignoring the sounds coming from Michael and Alex, he already figured that they forgot about everyone else and at least Alex will be pretty embarrassed when they figure out that they started to have sex outside and with an audience.

“Yeah,” Max answers wrapping an arm around Liz.

“Maybe,” Liz says at the same time.

“We gonna stick around and make sure?” Kyle asks, keeping his eyes locked on Liz’s.

Max makes a face. “I think I’ve had enough of hearing Michael have sex for the rest of my life.”

“Me too,” Kyle says making a face and turning towards the jeep. 

Who knew that Alex was that loud?

Kyle gets in the jeep and closes his eyes as Liz and Max get in.

“What?” Liz says sounding defensive. “It’s not a crime to think other people are hot.”

Max makes an aggrieved sound. “We’ll talk about this later.”

Kyle just shakes his head, and hopes that there is enough alcohol left at the Wild Pony to make him forget the last three days.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> space bounty hunter au

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written on 07/21/19

The target was moving too fast for the scanners to track, and Michael had to admit that he was a little impressed. Especially considering that the target was on foot and human.

Even Isobel flying at her fastest yet wasn’t enough to keep up.

Isobel curses low and harsh, her breathing heavy as she pushes past the limits of her stamina to keep up. 

“Remind me again how much credits are on the line,” Isobel asks, panting hard.

“3.5 million,” Michael says sounding a little breathless at the thought of having a third of that for himself.

“Dead or alive,” Max says, pushing the ship to go harder so that they could cut off their target. “So you don’t have to be gentle.”

“Not planning on it,” Isobel says, and then gives out a yell before Michael can see her speeding up on the scanner.

“I hope you’re getting ready,” Max tells Michael. “We’re almost in position.”

Michael rolls his eyes, “I was born ready.”

He can feel Max resisting the urge to take his gaze away from the front shield to glare at him.

“Dropping from this height at this speed-”

“Relax, my king,” Michael says mockingly. “Impenetrable skin, remember?”

“Not sure that will help when you get flattened like a pancake,” Max says, sarcastically.

“Trust me,” Michael responds. “I’ll be fine.”

“Now,” both Max and Isobel say.

Michael tugs the goggles holding his hair back from his face down to protect his eyes and pushes the blue button right next to the bay doors making the floor open up beneath his feet.

Michael lets out a whoop as he falls through the air, the wind rushing past him as he drops steals the sound away.

“Okay,” he hears Max’s voice through the implant in his left ear, connected to the ship’s broadcasting system. “You’re right on course. Isobel-”

“The fucker has those fucking cosmic boots,” Isobel says sounding pissed off. “I’m gonna kick Valenti’s fucking ass. Just picking up the son of an earth ambassador, he says. Easiest 3.5mill in the galaxy, he promises. Easy my ass, this fucker knows exactly what he’s doing.”

“And so do we,” Max assures her. “Michael, twenty seconds to impact.”

Michael changes his position in midair, and presses down on his amulet hanging from his neck. It glows bright blue as the force field surrounds him, and then he crashes to the floor, throwing dirt and rocks in his wake.

The force field powers down and Michael falls to his back laughing helplessly with the adrenaline pouring through his veins.

“Michael,” Max snaps.

Michael pushes himself to his feet and braces his foot on the floor, pulling the laser rifle strapped to his back and looking through the scope.

He spots the target immediately, jumping between the rock formations like he has no fear of falling. Everytime he pushes off, the boots give him a sonic boost sending him farther than humanly possible.

It’s easy to see how he’s been keeping ahead of Isobel, and it’s also easy to see that unlike them, he knows the terrain.

It’s also easy to see the moment he slows down. 

Michael gets a bad feeling immediately, but before he can warn Isobel, she swoops down from the sky like an avenging angel, all golden and bright. 

The target, pushes off from the next formation, but instead of forward he jumps up, and collides with Isobel in midair, dragging them both down to the ground.

“Isobel!” Michael yells, and straps the rifle back on his back before he pulls the cylinder disk from it’s holster on his hip and throws it in front of him.

It folds out into a hoverboard and he jumps on it and speeds forward to where they dropped.

He gets there just in time to see the target, knock Isobel out, and lean forward to grab the amulet from around her neck. “Thanks, princess,” he says.

And Michael takes one second to curse Valenti’s name because the target knows who they really are, before he drops back down to the ground and pulls his rifle from his back as the target stuffs the amulet into the front pocket of his pants.

Michael points the rifle at him, “Hands in the air and maybe I’ll think about not blowing your brains out for hitting my sister.”

The target doesn’t move like he’s surprised, and Michael takes another second to curse Valenti’s name before the target moves fast, using the boots for an extra boost as he roundhouse kicks the rifle out of Michael’s hands and into the air, before he catches it and points it at Michael.

Half of the target’s face is covered by a black cloth, and his eyes widen a little as the take Michael in, but it’s only marginally, before the rifle is giving a whining sound as it powers up.

“You were hardly going to be able to blow my brains out with a cold rifle,” he says and takes a step closer. “And you are hardly the brother of the Lost Princess of Antar, General.”

Michael spits at the ground and bares his teeth at him, raising one hand to his amulet when he feels the tip of a dagger right against the small of his back.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” an unfamiliar female voice says, pressing the knife harder.

Michael is seriously going to kill Valenti if they manage to get out of this alive.

The knife presses harder, and Michael lets his hands drop to his sides.

“Two against one isn’t exactly a fair fight,” he tells the target, who rolls his eyes at Michael.

“Yeah, and what’s three against one?”

“A hell of a party,” Michael says, grinning at him, and hoping that Max is almost at their position.

“If that was a code word or something,” the target says moving closer. “I wouldn’t hold your breath.”

“Max,” Michael says suddenly realizing that Max hasn’t spoken since he called Michael’s name.

“Nope, sorry, he’s a little tied up at the moment,” another unfamiliar and amused female voice says into his earpiece.

“Don’t worry,” the target says snapping Michael’s attention back to him. “He’ll be with you soon enough.”

Before Michael can ask what he means, the target swings the rifle knocking Michael out.

* * *

Michael comes to with a gasp, sitting up too fast, making his shoulders twinge in protest as the move tugs against the restraints around his wrists.

Michael looks around his surroundings to see that they’re in the same spot the target had dropped Isobel. A sort of ravine that had enough shade to hide from the scorching hot suns to protect them all.

Michael spots Max passed out with his head on Isobel’s lap, and Isobel also has her hands tied behind her back and her eyes are narrowed in anger.

Michael looks over to see what she’s looking at and spots the target, sitting down on the floor, hands moving fast as he types into his wristband which is connected to the holographic monitor in front of him that is crunching through data extremely fast, and from the way his eyes are moving, Michael can tell that he’s got at least one neural implant.

Michael feels something hit his thigh and he turns to Isobel to see her gaze on him. She tilts her head towards the target pointedly, and points her chin down.

Michael looks back over to the target, and down to the boots, and finally sees what Isobel was talking about.

“You know,” he says, and the target startles, blinking rapidly before his dark gaze narrows on Michael. “I designed the prototype for those boots.”

The target seems to smile smugly at Michael with only his eyes and his eyebrows, and there is something so _familiar _about it, but Michael can’t quite put his finger on it.

“These are your prototype actually,” he says and something jolts in Michael’s stomach at that. “I stole them and destroyed the plans before anyone else could get a hold of them. There have been copies flying around the quadrants but none like these.”

“Impossible,” Michael says immediately, blinking rapidly. “No one would be able to get into my lab-”

“Unless they have the code,” the target finishes, and then pulls the dark cloth from around his mouth, and Michael feels like every single atom in his body freezes.

“Alex,” he breathes, and feels Isobel kick something else at him, but he can’t look away.

It’s been ten years since they left Antar in the middle of the night. He didn’t even have time to say goodbye to his mom let alone Alex.

“General,” Alex replies, voice frosty.

Before Michael can say anything else, two figures float down on Michael’s hoverboard, dropping down on either side of Alex.

Michael recognizes them both from the pictures Alex kept in his room. Maria and Liz, his best friends.

Michael hears Max groan and looks over to see him waking up.

“Now that you’re all awake,” Liz says stepping closer to them. “We can begin the interrogation.”

Maria is standing right behind Liz cleaning her finger nails with the tip of her knife, and Alex is plugged back into whatever it is he was doing before.

“Where is Antar?” she says, and Michael’s gaze snaps to her incredulously.

“What are you talking about?” he asks.

“Antar is where it’s always been,” Max says, diplomatically. “Quadrant 43, Galactic Coordinates AAP98592094 and MNR31101.”

“It’s not like we shrunk the planet and put it into our suitcase when we ran away,” Isobel says, sardonically.

Liz and Maria share a look before they both look back at Alex, who lowers his hand and makes the monitor disappear before he looks at Michael.

Michael looks back at him, raising an eyebrow.

“I told you they wouldn’t know,” Alex says after a long moment turning to Maria and Liz.

Maria rolls her eyes, sliding the dagger back into her pocket.

Liz gives Alex a look. “Yeah, and what? We were just supposed to let them take you back to your father?”

Alex licks his bottom lip. “That wouldn’t have happened.”

“I would never let that happen,” Michael snaps at the same time.

Maria’s gaze flickers to him, and then to Alex and then back again, before she expels an exasperated breath and walks away from them muttering under her breath in a language that Michael has never heard.

“What?” Liz asks, calling after her, but doesn’t move away from Alex’s side.

“You know I was stationed on Antar, before the Disappearance,” Alex starts, and is cut off by Max and Isobel.

“The Disappearance?” they ask at the same time.

Alex looks over to them, and then to Michael and then back to Liz, who inclines her head slightly.

“Exactly five years two months and three weeks ago, the New King of Antar used ancient technology to move the planet somewhere else and no one has been able to locate it.”

There is silence for exactly five seconds before Isobel starts cursing and Max starts asking questions, and Michael starts talking about how that would cause an intergalactic catastrophe.

“It did,” Alex says. “It created a singularity that very nearly decimated every planet within range. Many people were killed. Some were lucky enough to survive.”

Michael swallows hard and eyes Alex up and down as though he’ll be able to see through his clothes and make sure that he’s whole and that the neural implant is the only thing different about him.

Alex doesn’t reply to his unspoken question, avoiding his gaze.

Liz lets out a breath. “How are we going to find Rosa now?”

“Rosa?” Isobel asks and something about her voice makes Michael stare at her.

“My sister,” Liz says turning back to them. “The New King kidnapped her and is holding her as his captive. You were our last hope in finding her.”

Isobel looks away from her to Michael, and Michael can see that she knows something, but before he can ask her, Max is speaking.

“We can take you to Antar,” he says, and Liz turns her gaze to him, eyes narrowing.

“How?”

“I’m the true King,” he says simply.

Alex and Liz share a look.

“It’s an evolutionary tic,” Michael answers when Liz and Alex turn unimpressed looks on them. “A King’s heart is with his people. Home is where the heart is, and home calls to us all.”

He looks at Alex as he says it, and Alex looks away immediately, but not fast enough that Michael doesn’t catch the flush that spreads across his cheeks.

“And if we let you go,” Maria says from behind them, startling Michael and making Isobel curse. “How can we be sure that you won’t just kill us all and drag Alex’s dead body to his father and collect your bounty?”

Isobel says, “You can’t. You’ll just have to take that chance.”

At the same time that Max says. “We won’t. I promise.” Not looking away from Liz.

And Michael swallows hard, and looks at Alex who widens his eyes and shakes his head slightly, but Michael is already talking. “Antarians don’t kill their mates.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alex and maria talk about michael

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written on 08/02/19

“We need to talk,” Maria says the second that Alex opens the door.

If it wasn’t for the fact that Alex was carrying equipment to store in the back of his truck for the road trip tomorrow, he would’ve just closed the door.

Alex clenches his jaw and gives Maria a look, “Actually, I don’t _need _to do anything. The time where I took orders from anyone is over with.”

He makes a gesture with the box that he’s carrying, and she moves to the side huffing a little.

“Alex, come on,” she says as she follows him to his car. “I just want to make things alright between us again.”

Alex scoffs and opens the back of his car careful not to drop the box in his hands.

“You just want to absolve yourself, and I’m not really interested in listening to excuses.”

He sets the box inside and closes the trunk, turning to see Maria standing in his way, a pissed off look on her face.

“I don’t have anything to feel guilty about,” she states, voice clear and practiced.

“Good for you, now, I have things to finish up before I leave in the morning-”

“You’re leaving?” She asks the hostility bleeding out of her as she looks at Alex with wide, scared eyes.

“I’m taking a quick road trip with Kyle,” he says, walking past her. “Not leaving the state.”

Maria follows after him, grabbing on to his arm before he gets to the steps on the balcony. 

Alex pulls away from her a little too fast, and stumbles a little, before turning to her and raising an eyebrow in question.

She licks her lips and raises an eyebrow back. “You and Kyle have been taking a lot of road trips together lately,” she says slowly.

Alex tries really hard not to roll his eyes. “Yeah, we’re bonding.”

“You know,” she says, voice even slower. “Liz wouldn’t mind if you wanted to date Kyle.”

Alex rolls his eyes, “Yeah, first of all, I’m not some highschool cliche who is going to fall in love with his former bully, no matter how much he’s changed and grown as a person. Kyle is my friend, the only one that I actually have.”

“And second of all,” he continues when she opens her mouth, probably to contradict him on the friend thing. “What I feel for Michael isn’t even in the same neighborhood as what Liz feels for Kyle.”

Maria closes her mouth and swallows hard, looking away from him.

Alex counts down from three in his head, and sees Maria swallow and turn back to him, opening her mouth to speak once he gets to one.

“I know what you think you feel, but Michael told me things between the two of you were long over, and I-”

Alex scoffs again. “Look, if we’re going to actually have this conversation, then stop hiding behind Michael’s half assed excuses. If I can be self aware enough to admit that I walked away one too many times and he decided that enough was enough, then you can also be self aware enough to admit that even if you knew the whole truth, you would’ve still made the same choice.”

Maria crosses her arms and nods her head slightly. “You’re right. Him saying that things between the two of you were long over wasn’t the only reason why I let him kiss me. I’m falling in love with him, and I don’t think it’s fair that just because you think you’ve been in love with him longer-”

“Why don’t you just ask me?” Alex cuts her off not wanting to hear the rest of what she’s saying.

Maria stops and gives him a confused look. “Ask you what?”

“To tell you exactly what I feel, exactly what happened ten years ago, and why I _think _that I’m in love with him,” he says counting off the questions with his fingers, before snapping his fingers as though he just thought of a new idea. “Better yet, why don’t you ask Michael to tell you something besides things are long over. Just how long did he tell you things have been over and done with, anyway? Or did you assume that because I haven’t been back to visit _you _in ten years that things were over and done with in highschool?”

Maria blinks rapidly and looks away again, and Alex just exhales roughly and shakes his head.

“See, you don’t actually want to talk, and you don’t actually want the truth. You just want me to tell you that it’s okay. That I don’t care. That eventually I’ll get over myself and we can be friends again, but the truth is that we’re not friends.”

She turns a startled look at him, and Alex gives her a smile that falls flat immediately. “We haven’t been for years. We were getting there. Or at least, I thought that we were. Obviously, I was wrong.”

Maria shakes her head, “Alex, no. Of course, we’re friends. We’re family!”

Alex shakes his head back at her. “No, we’re not. We grew up together, but that’s about it. You can say the same thing about everyone in this town. You probably know more about Wyatt Long than you know about me.”

She shakes her head, “You’re one of my best friends. I know who you are.”

“No, you don’t,” he says, blinking his eyes, feeling the sting of tears. “I’m not the same person that I was ten years ago when I joined the Air Force because I was terrified that my father would do something _worse _than break Michael’s hand.”

Maria inhales sharply and turns wide, wet, surprised eyes on him.

“And I’m not the same person that I was several months ago when I came back for good and you told me that my home can be a person.”

Maria closes her eyes, and Alex sees the tears leaking out from the corners, and he feels his stomach clench, and he wants to reach out and comfort her, but instead he clenches his fists at his sides.

“Too many things have happened in the last couple of months to change anyone. My world as I knew it changed totally and completely and no one can come out of that the same, and I would tell you exactly what I mean, but it’s not just my secret to tell, and I’ve already been told not to get involved.”

Maria blinks her eyes open, looking at him with confusion.

“What are you-?”

“Talk to Michael,” Alex says adamantly. “Ask him to tell you the truth.”

Maria scoffs, rolling her eyes a little and giving him a look, “You should know that asking Michael anything is an exercise in futility. Especially if you want him to tell you the truth.”

Alex closes his eyes and inhales deeply, before he looks back at Maria, who has her brow furrowed, looking at Alex like she’s expecting him to agree with her.

“I don’t know that,” Alex says, swallowing hard, but refusing to look away from her.

“You know the truth about what happened to his hand, don’t you?” she asks him voice low and frigid as she gives Alex the type of look she saves for people being rowdy in her bar.

“Yes,” Alex admits. “But like I said. I was told not to get involved.”

Maria purses her mouth at him. “You just said that you were through taking orders from anyone.”

Alex huffs out a laugh in disbelief and looks away from her shaking his head. “Michael isn’t anyone, and he didn’t demand that I keep you in the dark. He asked me not to get involved, because your relationship or lack thereof has nothing to do with me. So I think you should follow his prerogative and leave me out of it.”

Alex turns quickly then and is almost at the door when Maria speaks up.

“How long?” she asks, voice shaking a little.

Alex inhales deeply and looks over at her. “How long, what?”

“How long have things been over between the two of you?” she says, looking up at him with her jaw clenched, and like she already knows the answer, but needs him to confirm it.

“I can’t say-” Alex starts, and she scoffs cutting him off.

“I need to know this Alex,” she says, and then bites down on her lip. “Please. Just tell me.”

“I was,” he says, and starts again. “I can’t say because while things between us have always been the way they are, we’ve never actually been in a relationship. We had one date that I let my father ruin. And then things get complicated. That day at the bar, he asked me if things were really over, because it didn’t feel like they were and I told him yes, because of things I can’t tell you, but I thought that we were starting over, finally on the same page, and then-”

“Enough,” she snaps out, voice tight with anger. “Why didn’t you tell me _any _of this after you found out what happened in Texas?”

“Because after you found out how I felt, you started avoiding me like the plague!” Alex snaps, and Maria bites down on her lip looking away. “You refused to answer my calls, and didn’t answer my messages. And things got complicated, like I said, and then afterwards, I just wasn’t interested in anything that you had to say.”

“But you were interested in what Michael had to say?”

Alex sighs. “I didn’t have a choice but to listen to what Michael had to say. Things are still complicated, and I’m not talking relationship wise.”

Maria looks at him for a long moment, “You’re talking about whatever it is that happened to his hand?”

Alex purses his mouth. “That’s a part of it,” he admits. “But it’s not the whole thing.”

Maria nods her head slowly, clenching her jaw again, before she inhales deeply, and looks at Alex.

“I know what you said, but I still consider you my family, and I hope that eventually you’ll consider me family again. I love you, Alex, so much, and I don’t want to lose you, especially over some guy.”

Alex closes his eyes, and exhales slowly before he looks at her again. “I love you too, and maybe one day we’ll get past this, but right now, I don’t see that happening because Michael isn’t just some guy to me. He’s the only person I’ve ever considered mine, and that’s not something that’s going to change just because he happens to be sleeping in your bed.”

He turns around and this time manages to make it inside before Maria can say anything else.

Alex leans back against the door and listens to the sounds as Maria walks to her truck and leaves.

He closes his eyes tight and exhales long and slow before his phone beeps informing him that he had a new message.

Alex swallows hard and looks over at his phone on top of the table, and he already knows who the message is going to be from.

He walks over and picks up his phone, pressing down on the middle button until it unlocks and he pulls up his messages, and ignores the way that his stomach clenches when he sees the notification next to Michael’s name.

He clicks on the message.

_I’ll be there. See you in the morning._


	14. 137. “You know I could never leave you alone on your favorite holiday.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the one where alex and michael spend christmas together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written On: 11/19/19

**one.**

Michael is working on the last chapter due in Calculus before the winter break starts when he hears someone clear their throat.

He looks up and Alex Manes stands in front of him wearing all black, with a long red and green patterned scarf and a Santa hat that has the words, _bah humbug_, stitched in gold on the brim.

His messenger bag is hanging by his hip, and he’s holding something that is definitely guitar shaped and wrapped in silver foil wrapping paper.

His cheeks are pink, and Michael doesn’t know if it’s from the cold or something else, but Alex just exhales roughly and takes a few steps closer.

“I’m not too big on this whole Christmas thing and when I got you for the Secret Santa, I swore that the world was just trying to punish me for daring to be out and proud, because I know how much you love Christmas,” he pauses and Michael tries not to flush as Alex eyes the tinsel garlands that he has draped around the truck bed.

“But I put on my big boy pants and did some research, which you owe me so many milkshakes for the amount of years speaking to Isobel Evans has taken from my life, but anyway, Merry Christmas,” he finishes and holds out the guitar shaped package.

Michael looks at it with wide eyes for five full seconds before he looks back up to Alex, who is frowning at him.

“Are you for real?” Michael asks when Alex just shakes the guitar in his hold, obviously waiting for Michael to take it.

“Isobel told me you like music and both Max and Maria confirmed it, and I’ve seen you messing around with the guitar in the music room, but I kind of figured you didn’t have one of your own. It isn’t brand new or anything, but it’ll be of more use to you than hidden in my closet.”

Michael reaches for the guitar with shaking fingers, and Alex pushes it into his hands.

Michael undoes the wrapping paper carefully, and he can tell from the way Alex starts fidgeting that he’s fighting with himself so that he doesn’t reach forward and help Michael open his gift.

Michael uncovers the guitar case and it’s an old and fading leather, but it looks well taken care of.

He sets the guitar on his lap, and unzips the case carefully. The guitar is well used, but also well taken care of, and looks like it was restrung recently. There is a sticker whose edges are fading into the wood of the guitar itself that says, _Bonnie Ruins_.

He passes his fingers over it and looks up at Alex who is biting down on his bottom lip.

“Bonnie Ruins?” He questions.

Alex gives him a half smile, “It’s the name of the band my mom wanted to form when she was my age. The guitar was hers. It’s the first one I ever held in my hands.”

Michael exhales roughly, shaking his head and getting ready to hand the guitar back, but Alex is shaking his head.

“I want you to have it,” he says, looking at Michael intent and serious. “I have my own, and I know my mom wouldn’t mind.”

Michael licks his lips and swallows hard and then looks back down at the guitar.

He inhales deeply and nods his head looking back up at Alex. “Thank you.”

Alex smiles wide and bright and it very nearly knocks Michael back, stealing all of the air from his lungs.

“You’re welcome,” he answers and pulls out several folded sheets of paper and holds them out as well.

“Just a few songs, I didn’t know if you knew and others I think you’ll like.”

Michael can’t help but smile back at Alex. He sets the papers down beside him and takes the guitar out of the case, setting the case aside with the papers.

“Any requests,” he asks, strumming along the strings carefully.

Alex just laughs and drops down to sit beside him, pushing the papers and case back further into the truck.

Michael listens to him talk while he strums the strings and thinks that maybe Christmas is going to be different from now on.

**two.**

Michael usually spends his Christmas with Max and Isobel, but there is something about this year that makes him hesitate, which is the only reason why he’s walking out of the Airstream that late.

Alex stops as he looks up and sees Michael standing in the doorway. 

He’s wearing his uniform and the same red and green scarf from the previous year with the same hat, but even with it covering his head, Michael can see how short his hair is.

Michael hasn’t really seen him since that day in the tool shed. He’d heard about Alex joining the Air Force from the rumors going around town. The only time that Michael had tried to approach him since then, Alex had looked so terrified out of his mind, like he was expecting his father to materialize just because they were near each other, that Michael had just left him alone.

He had thought that they would have had more time then. And right now, watching as Alex looks at him with a look on his face that looks both ecstatic and upset, he had thought that there was no time left, but of course, Alex was here to prove him wrong.

Alex takes a step forward and accidentally kicks a small stone, that hits the side of the Airstream with a low metal plink.

It’s that, that confirmation that Alex is actually _there _that sends Michael into motion.

Alex inhales like he’s going to say something, but Michael needs something else first.

He digs his fingers into the back of Alex’s neck and pulls him in, and Alex exhales roughly, eyes going a little wide.

“Wha-?” He breathes and Michael muffles the rest of the words with his mouth.

Alex makes a low noise at the back of his throat, and then wraps his arms around Michael’s waist, fingers snagging against the fabric of Michael’s sweater as he pushes into him, kissing Michael back.

Michael feels the kiss sink through him, hot and heady like molten wax, lighting up parts of him that he had no idea could still be reached.

Michael parts their mouths, keeping their heads close together and inhales deeply.

Alex sighs and nudges their noses together. Michael’s eyes flutter open and Alex is staring right at him with bright eyes.

“Hey,” he whispers.

“Hey,” Michael says back, sliding his hands down the back of Alex’s neck and wrapping his fingers in the collar of his shirt.

“Merry Christmas,” he whispers next, words pressed into the space between their mouths.

Michael finds his mouth twitching at the corners. “You got a present for me.”

Alex nods his head, brushing their noses together. “It’s in my car.”

Michael hums low in his throat, and slides his hands down to play with the buttons on Alex’s shirt. “I was kind of hoping for something else.”

Alex laughs, a soft startled sound, and Michael licks into his mouth, kissing him deeply.

He tugs Alex inside of the Airstream wordlessly, and Alex follows after him, eyes on Michael’s mouth, trapping him right against the entrance, and kissing him hard and fast before nudging both of their faces up, “Mistletoe.”

He smiles as he looks back at Michael and he sounds fond and happy, and Michael pushes him deeper into the trailer, closing the door shut.

*

When Michael wakes up, his phone is ringing to the tune of _Oh Christmas Tree _and Alex is nowhere to be found.

On top of the counter next to ringing phone is a black cowboy hat, the green and red scarf tied like a bow around the rim, a note taped to the scarf:

_Isobel told me about the job at Fosters. Found this old hat while cleaning out my room. Hope you like it. xA_

**three.**

Michael only remembers that Alex had mentioned having a roommate when he’s knocking on the door again and a voice he doesn’t recognize is telling him to hold the fuck on.

Michael hadn’t really thought things through beyond, Alex can’t come to him and he’s sad about it so, the logical thing to do was to go to him.

So here Michael was after several hours on the road after being awake for about five days running, standing right in front of Alex’s door, the ridiculous green and red scarf wrapped around his neck, the cowboy hat pulled low over his brow so he has to tip his head up and back when the door opens and this mountain of a man fills up the space, dressed in a tank top and a pair of shorts, wearing a seriously annoyed expression on his face.

Michael is trying to remember his name, when Alex’s voice comes from somewhere behind him.

“Hey Eddie, who’s at the door-”

Eddie moves back so that Alex can see, and Alex stops speaking, eyes going wide, lips parting in surprise.

Michael can’t help the way that his lips twitch up at the corners as he’s flooded with warmth at just the sight of him.

It had been roughly five hours since he’d hung up the phone on Alex after Alex told him that he wasn’t going to be able to make it home for Christmas.

“Guerin,” he says sounding breathless and like he can’t actually believe that Michael is actually there.

“Wait,” Eddie says. “Guerin as in Michael,” he turns from Alex to Michael. “_You’re _Michael Guerin?” he asks and his voice is full of disbelief.

Michael bristles immediately. “Sorry to disappoint you.”

Eddie laughs a booming laugh. “Oh no, I just expected you to be taller. The way that Alex talks about you-”

“Okay,” Alex says cutting him off. “Didn’t you say you have an early morning tomorrow?”

Eddie just rolls his eyes and shares a look with Michael before walking inside and leaving the door open.

Michael watches him as he walks into his room and closes the door behind himself, and then Alex steps into his line of vision and Michael forgets that anyone else exists.

He hasn’t seen Alex since last Christmas, and while seeing him once a year is definitely not the way that he wants things to be, at least it’s more than he expected when Alex had left Roswell the first time.

“What are you doing here?” Alex asks as he takes a step forward.

“I have no idea,” Michael answers honestly, moving in tandem.

They eat up the space between them easily, and Alex’s fingers are reaching out and snagging on the scarf and Michael’s hands are twisting into the excess fabric at Alex’s waist, and they meet in a kiss that is probably a little more desperate than usual, but Michael gives into it immediately.

Alex pulls away from his mouth. “I thought-” he starts on an exhale, and Michael presses his hands into his lower back bringing him in close and tipping his chin back to kiss him again.

Alex’s fingers press into the hollow of his throat and he kisses him harder, licking into his mouth when Michael gasps.

Alex tugs Michael through the unfamiliar room and into his room, and Michael cheats a little, and he’s definitely more than a little reckless, but by the time they make it into Alex’s bedroom, it’s too late to actually be worried about it.

The door closes behind them with a click and Michael drags Alex into another kiss, distracting him immediately.

Alex kisses him, pushing him further into the room until Michael’s shins hit the side of the bed.

Michael pulls away from the kiss with a gasp, and opens his mouth to talk about how presumptuous Alex was being when he notices the way the room is dimly lit with a soft multicolored glow.

He finds the source quickly and feels his heart skip a beat in his chest.

In the corner, right on top of the desk that Alex uses to study for his required coding degree, is a small artificial Christmas tree, the one that has the fiber optic lights.

They cycle through the rainbow as Michael watches, and he can see the too big ornaments that were a part of a Christmas present Michael had given Alex two years ago, so that he had a little piece of Christmas wherever he went.

Michael turns his gaze back on to Alex’s face, who is staring at Michael with his bottom lip trapped between his teeth, like he’s worried about Michael’s reaction.

Michael swallows down around his heart that he can feel in his throat, and smirks. “Been thinking about me, I see.”

Alex scoffs and pushes him back, making him trip and fall onto the bed.

Michael bounces slightly on the mattress and Alex is climbing up on the bed and straddling his lap before Michael can even lean up on his elbows to look at him.

Alex bends over him, his weight settling along Michael’s lower stomach as he leans over Michael and kisses him again.

Michael settles his hands low on Alex’s thighs and opens his mouth to Alex’s questing tongue.

“You’re the best present I could ask for,” Alex whispers, words brushing against Michael’s lips. “And I didn’t get you anything.”

Michael drags his hands up to the waistband of Alex’s pajama pants and tugs on them a little.

He tips his head back and pushes their noses together.

“I think that you’re doing a good job so far.”

Alex presses his smile to Michael’s mouth, and then sits up.

Michael makes a low noise in protest, tugging even more on his pants, but Alex leans up on his knees and reaches for something he’s got hanging on the headboard.

Michael hears the soft tinkling sound of metal and Alex settles back down on his lap, holding whatever he got in one hand.

“I’ve been trying to figure out how to give this to you for a long time, so don’t make a big deal about it, or anything.”

Michael furrows his brow in confusion and just looks at Alex expectantly.

Alex opens his hand and lets the necklace drop.

It hangs from his fingers and he shakes it slightly.

Michael stares at the pendant hitting against his chest blankly for a few seconds and then realizes what he’s looking at.

He darts his eyes back to Alex who is wearing the same look on his face from before, but more, like this is really important and he’s afraid of how Michael is going to react.

Michael swallows hard and looks back at the dog tags. He can just make out Alex’s name and a string of numbers.

He looks back at Alex’s face and leans up on his elbows.

Alex moves with him and gives him a disbelieving little smile, but he pulls Michael’s hat off his head and tugs the scarf and throws it aside before he slips the chain over Michael’s neck, pressing his hand down on the tags that hang directly over Michael’s heart.

Michael feels his heart skip a beat and he moves, wrapping his fingers in the collar of Alex’s soft cotton shirt, and he pulls him in as he lies back down, just barely brushing their lips together.

Alex settles his hands on either side of Michael’s head and pushes into him, dragging Michael into a slow deep kiss.

Michael slides his hands to Alex’s back, slipping his fingers beneath his shirt and gets lost in the taste of Alex’s mouth and the feel of his warm smooth skin.

An alarm sounds out and Alex jolts in his hold, biting down on Michael’s lip a little too hard.

He pulls back and says, sorry, before he leans over and shuts off his alarm.

Michael notes the time and looks back to Alex raising an eyebrow.

Alex rolls his eyes a little, his cheeks going pink, and he just sighs. “I was going to call you at midnight.”

Michael can’t help the slow smile that spreads across his face.

Alex drops their foreheads together and smiles back at him, soft and private. “Merry Christmas.”

Michael just slides his hands up to the back of Alex’s neck and tugs him in for another kiss.

**four.**

Michael is on his falling apart flip phone, trying to tell Isobel that he’s busy and won’t be making it to her and Noah’s first Christmas brunch as a married couple, when he spots the package taped to his front door.

He hangs up on Isobel calling him a bad brother and pulls the package off with a loud noise.

He shakes it a little, and when nothing happens, he walks into the Airstream with it tucked beneath his arm.

He sets it down on his desk and finds a letter opener and opens it up.

There is a big plastic bubble stopping the smaller white box from moving around too much.

Michael spots a charger and he knows that the box is the same dimensions as a phone, but he doesn’t know who on earth could possibly send him a new phone.

He opens the small white box and the phone slides out into his hands, smooth and black and silver and he puts it to charge, wanting to turn it on to see if there are any clues.

He gets the biggest clue, when the phone blinks on, and the lockscreen is a picture of Alex, obviously a selfie, wearing his Santa hat and Michael can just make the scarf out from where the picture cuts off at his neck. He’s smiling, wide and bright, the opposite of his soft Michael smile, but it still sends Michael’s heart racing.

He unlocks the phone, but before he can do any exploring, a message pops up to remind him to call _Alex🖤_.

Michael clicks on the contacts and the only two numbers listed are Izzy and Alex with a black heart emoji.

Michael presses the call button, accidentally calling him via video and trying to close out of it, but Alex responds before he can, appearing on his screen with the same wide smile, but his hair is wet from what Michael assumes is a recent shower, and there are bags beneath his eyes, and he looks like he’s in need of a few good nights of sleep.

Michael feels a small jolt go through him at the fact that Alex looks like he hasn’t had a good night’s sleep since he came and disrupted their routine for three nights in October before he had to leave because he was going overseas.

“Merry Christmas,” he says, leaning back against what looks like dull grey painted bricks. “I hope you like your gift and that you don’t mind that I put you on my phone plan. It’ll make communicating much easier.”

Michael wants to protest, but he can’t really find it in himself to.

“Thank you,” he says instead, gratefully.

Alex’s smile goes soft, and he looks away, over the phone camera. “It’s no problem at all, Guerin.You know I could never leave you alone on your favorite holiday.” 

Michael shakes his head slightly and has to give Alex a smile, like he has no idea what he’s talking about, because he really doesn’t.

“It’s only my favorite holiday because I get to spend it with you,” Michael admits, and Alex stops, freezing so absolute that Michael thinks for a second that the call is stalling, but then Alex blinks a few times, rapidly and looks away.

He swallows and then exhales and looks back at Michael with a determined expression on his face, eyes dark and serious.

“Three more years of this and then I’m done,” Alex says, and Michael feels his heart thud hard in his chest.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Michael asks feeling breathless.

Alex opens his mouth to answer and then he actually freezes, and then the screen goes dark and starts blinking that the call was disconnected.

Michael exhales roughly and drops the phone on top of the counter, taking in a deep breath.

The heavy silence is broken by the roll of thunder, and Michael nods his head, figuring that he was just that lucky.

The phone beeps and Michael picks it up immediately, unlocking the phone and pulling up the message.

From Alex🖤: _Bad reception on my end. I’ll call you when I can. There are two more presents heading your way. See you when I can._

Michael just turns the phone off and looks at his other phone which starts ringing immediately, Isobel’s name flashing across the screen.

The other phone vibrates and beeps in his hands again.

From Alex🖤: _Go have brunch with your sister, and eat some waffles for me._

Michael just rolls his eyes and answers Isobel’s call.

“Fine,” he says before she can say anything. “I’ll go, but only if you made waffles.”

Isobel scoffs, “What am I, an amateur?”

Michael just rolls his eyes and hangs up the phone.

**five.**

Maria stands between the door and his bed with her arms crossed. She’s glaring at him and her arms are crossed over her chest and she’s wearing a black beanie over her head and thick brown jacket and orange and brown and turquoise patterned scarf.

She looks kind of adorable, and Michael would tell her, except he thinks that if he says something wrong right now she’s going to kick his ass.

“Look,” she says sighing. “I’m not only here because Isobel asked me to come here. I’m here as your _friend_. And you shouldn’t be alone during Christmas. It’s not right.”

Michael bites down on the automatic caustic remark at where was she last year when he spent Christmas getting too drunk to think straight since Alex refused to see him.

He’s about to tell her that he never spends Christmas alone when there is a knock on his door.

Maria raises her eyebrow at him and he just shrugs. He already knows who is at the door.

“Hey Guerin,” Alex says, and Maria goes so still Michael thinks she might actually have stopped breathing. “I know you’re in there acting like an asshole and ignoring your sister’s invitation for brunch-”

Maria gives Michael a judgemental look probably at the fact that Isobel has to recruit more than one person to talk him into spending Christmas with her.

“-but I have waffles and coffee and those weird peppermint chocolates that you like, plus,” he continues and his voice goes a little tight with tension. “The present that you didn’t open last year.”

Michael frowns and looks at the door with a furrowed brow.

They haven’t talked about what happened last year, and Michael had been pretending that it wasn’t all that he was thinking about as December had gotten closer.

“He got you a present last year?” Maria asks, throwing a rag from the counter at Michael.

Michael gives her a confused look. “He gives me a present every year?”

Maria purses her mouth and just eyes him in a way that Michael can’t really understand, so he just turns back towards the door, and narrows his eyes like he’ll be able to see Alex if he concentrates hard enough.

“I thought we were pretending last year didn’t happen,” Michael says, and he can almost see the way that Alex exhales and clenches his jaw.

“I’m sorry for not acting rationally while I was healing from an injury,” Alex says, and Michael rolls his eyes, pushing himself to his feet and walking pass Maria to open the door and glare at Alex properly.

“You know that that’s not what this was about,” Michael says, and ignores the way that Alex smiles at him, like he’s happy that Michael is out of bed. “If you had just spoken to me instead of assuming I wouldn’t care-”

“That is not what I did,” Alex says cutting him off and taking a step towards him. “I didn’t want you to see me like that.”

Michael scoffs. “I didn’t care then, and I don’t care now. You should’ve just told me, but instead you made me believe that you never wanted to see me again.”

“I’m sorry,” Alex says, and he’s looking at Michael with wide pleading eyes, wearing that stupid _bah humbug_ Santa hat, and the scarf, and Michael just wishes that he could bundle him up into his bed and never let him go again.

“I’m sorry,” he repeats again like he can see the crack in Michael’s armor. “But I’m here now. And I have waffles.”

He lifts the take out bag in his hand, and Michael stares at it and then looks up at him. “Just waffles?”

Alex rolls his eyes. “Waffles topped with strawberry jam and powdered sugar,” he says, with an obvious tone in his voice.

Michael just rolls and takes the last few steps down to grab the bag.

“There’s enough for all of us to share,” Alex says to Maria, who Michael had actually sort of forgotten about.

Maria just shakes her head as she walks out of the Airstream, moving pass Michael and half smiling at Alex. “Don’t worry about me. I’m going to have lunch with my mom.”

Alex smiles back at her and then turns back to Michael. “I’m going to get the coffee from my car.”

He turns towards his car, and Maria turns to Michael.

“You could’ve said you were waiting for Alex,” she tells him, eyeing him a little intensely like she’s trying to get into his head.

Michael licks his lips and stares as Alex looks around in the passenger seat like he’s giving them privacy.

“It’s not like it’s a secret, but I’ve kept it one for so long that it’s difficult to tell anyone else about it.”

Maria nods her head and she looks at Alex, and there is a sad turn to her mouth as she asks. “How many-?”

She trails off, but Michael already knows what she’s trying to ask. “Every Christmas since he was my Secret Santa senior year.”

Maria makes a low noise of disbelief and she just rolls her eyes upwards and then walks away towards her car.

She tells Alex something that he can’t hear, but makes Alex laugh, and then she’s getting into her truck and leaving and Alex is walking towards him, a carton tray in one hand and a small box in the other.

“Merry Christmas,” Alex says and hands the box over, taking the plastic take out bag from him as he pushes past him and walks into the Airstream.

Michael just inhales deeply and opens the box.

Inside is another small square box with Michael knows is for a watch.

He opens it up and finds that it is a watch, but one that apparently times the alignment of the planets instead.

He passes a thumb over the glass surface and then jumps a little when a burst of static comes out of his ancient speakers, before the sweet sounds of Christmas music fills the air.

Michael just closes the box again and heads back inside closing the door behind himself.

**six.**

“We’re going to be late,” Alex says as he manages to slip away from where Michael had trapped him at the door with a slight tug against the red and green scarf he’s wearing and an, _oh look it’s mistletoe._

He manages to get out of the door and halfway to the car before Michael even realizes that they’re not kissing anymore.

Michael follows after him, pushing the tinsel falling from the brim of his hat, back to where it belongs, and closes and locks the door with a flick of his wrist.

“Izzy isn’t going to care,” Michael says as he gets into the passenger side of Alex’s car.

“Your sister wants everything to be perfect and it won’t be unless you and Max are there, and you don’t have any reason to not spend Christmas with her.”

Michael sighs and just leans back in his seat, putting the seatbelt on when Alex clears his throat meaningfully, only then does he put the car in reverse and pull out of the driveway.

Alex finds a radio station playing Christmas songs, and Michael relaxes a little bit more, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply.

If he stays still, and keeps his eyes shut, he can just pretend with Alex’s low humming and the low whir of the heater that they’re back in the Airstream, waiting for Michael’s ancient coffee machine to finish percolating and not heading to Isobel’s.

It’s not that Michael doesn’t want to spend Christmas with Isobel, it’s that he’d gotten so used to just spending Christmas with Alex, that it was weird to share it with anyone else. 

Alex doesn’t say anything until they’re parking outside of Isobel’s new apartment.

“It’s only going to be for a few hours,” he says, and Michael opens his eyes and turns his face to look at him. “And if you behave and act like you’re enjoying yourself, just a tiny bit, I’ll let you try out any of the gifts we got from Cameron.”

Michael feels his whole body perk up at that promise, leaning in close to Alex, who is smiling at him, mostly with his eyes. “You promise?”

Alex just smirks and leans in a little closer, like he’s going to brush their mouths together only to move away and out of the car.

Alex is laughing when Michael catches up to him and he traps him right against the door, nudging his face up by pressing his nose to Alex’s cheek.

“Mistletoe,” he whispers, and before Alex can confirm it, Michael is kissing him.

Alex makes a low muffled sound against his mouth but he wraps his arms around Michael’s shoulders and kisses him back, leaning fully against the door.

Isobel, of course, opens the door, right when Michael knows that Alex forgot where they were.

They stumble a little, but Michael keeps their balance, glaring at Isobel who sighs like she’s been through enough.

“I miss the days when you were just friends who could barely even look at each other.”

Alex pushes away from Michael and kisses Isobel on the cheek as he walks past her inside of the house, and Michael just pouts at her.

“I was miserable then,” he points out and she gives him a look like that’s not her problem.

Michael just sighs and walks in as well.

Isobel keeps her eyes on him, but she has a full house. Michael finds himself surrounded by Max and Liz who are arguing about a book they’re reading and trying to get Michael to side with the other, and then caught up in a game of darts between Kyle and Cameron.

He looks at Alex trapped in a game with Liz and Maria and they’re all arguing over each other over the actual rules of the game, and feels warm and content.

It’s not that he didn’t enjoy himself when it was just him and Alex, but this wasn’t something that he’d thought he’d ever had.

He spots Isobel standing by herself and looking at everyone and moves away from the others to go talk to her.

She raises an eyebrow when Michael leans next to her on the wall, and then takes a sip of her drink.

“Thank you,” he tells her. “For doing this even though this year has been tough.”

Isobel shrugs a little. “We all need some happiness and cheer every now and then, and besides, your boyfriend was the one who asked me to plan this whole thing.”

Michael exhales a little in surprise and looks over to where Alex is laughing, bright and happy, throwing his head back in delight.

Isobel roll her eyes and pushes him, “God you’re gross. Can you please go make moon eyes somewhere else? I’m trying to keep my drinks down.”

Michael just rolls his eyes and pushes away from the wall.

Alex pulls away from Liz and Maria at the same time and meets Michael in the middle of the room.

He pulls something from out of his pocket, and opens his mouth, eyes shining bright, but before Alex can say anything, Michael is tugging him in for a kiss.

“Mistletoe,” Alex says when he pulls back, blinking at Michael a little stupidly, lips parted, eyes wide, cheeks pink.

Michael looks above them and sees that Alex is holding a plastic sprig of mistletoe hanging from a string.

Michael looks back at him with a smile, “Izzy told me.”

Alex’s cheek go even more pink and he shrugs a little, reaching up to mess with the brim of Michael’s hat. 

“I like it when it’s just us, but I know that Christmas is your favorite holiday, and it’s a community thing. I would explain it some more, but-” he cuts himself off and gasps dramatically.

“Is that mistletoe hanging from your hat?” He asks and drapes his arms around Michael’s shoulders. “You know what that means?”

Michael smiles bright and happy and leans in close, and kisses him.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alex doesn't like being around people, michael doesn't count as people

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written On: 11/20/19

Alex lasts a lot longer than Michael was expecting.

The second he woke up in a room surrounded by people, who all wanted to touch him in some way to reassure themselves that he was there and alive, Michael had seen the way he was subtly pulling closer and closer into himself.

Alex had been missing for weeks (five weeks, four days, fifteen hours, forty-two minutes and thirty-three seconds) and had been found unconscious and barely breathing.

It had taken Max exactly sixteen seconds to heal him, and it had taken Kyle five minutes and forty-six seconds, to do a preliminary examination and deem him suitable for travel.

Michael had frozen for an unspecified amount of time when he had seen Alex, pale and gaunt covered in cuts and bruises, chest barely moving, and had only started moving again, when Kyle had pushed him into the driver’s seat and demanded that he drive.

Liz and Maria had set up the corner of Liz’s lab (which had turned into their home base) into a comfortable nest, with blankets and pillows stolen from Alex’s bed, and Kyle had hooked him up into an IV to treat his dehydration, and he had slept, while Maria and Liz watched like they were afraid he might disappear again.

He stays unconscious for almost twelve hours (eleven hours, forty-eight minutes and fifty-three seconds) and wakes up violently, a burst of motion as he sits up, gasping and searching around to see where he was that had almost everyone still in the room jolting back in their seats.

Michael watches as Alex calms down marginally as he recognizes the people in the room as non threats to his safety, and lies back down in his makeshift bed. 

Liz calls Kyle who seemingly drops everything to rush to the lab and check him over.

Michael stays in his position sitting down on top of the counter, and he watches the room, watches Max leaning against the far wall and watching the scene with a furrowed brow like he’s confused about something, watches Isobel sitting on the chair right by Alex’s bed, back straight, hands clenched on top of her lap like she’s stopping herself from surrounding Alex like Liz and Maria and Kyle are doing.

Liz, Maria, and Kyle, were all buzzing around Alex like an intense and overly friendly swarm of bees.

He watches as Alex starts to seem like a trapped wild animal, and sees him reach his threshold. He still lasts a few more minutes before he fakes a yawn and Kyle hustles everyone out of the lab and to the cafeteria.

Michael is expecting it when they go back inside to find that Alex is gone.

He’s the only one who is.

Liz turns to Max immediately, “Can you feel him? Is he hurt?”

Max immediately tries to soothe her. “It doesn’t exactly work like that.”

Liz just frowns up at him, but relaxes as he puts his hands on her shoulders, rubbing her shoulders gently.

Michael leans against the door as Maria turns to Kyle with narrowed eyes. “Could he have gotten out of here on his own?”

Kyle purses his mouth, “He was severely dehydrated, and weak from being held captive, underground and maybe a little sensitive to sunlight, but he is Alex.”

Maria sighs like she concedes the point, and Michael tries not to smile.

Isobel catches sight of his face, “What are you so happy about?”

Michael tries really hard not to roll his eyes, “I’m not happy, just highly amused.”

“Where do you think he went?” Maria asks him, narrowing her eyes, like she’s challenging him for a game on who knows the most about Alex.

“Somewhere small and quiet where he feels comfortable and safe enough to lower his guard down.”

Everyone turns to him, giving him various looks of disbelief and skepticism.

Michael rolls his eyes.

“Look,” he says pushing away from the door. “You can waste time looking for him and come up empty, or you can wait until he decides he wants to face the real world again. If you text him, I’m sure he’ll answer.”

At that moment, everyone’s phones beeps, the short dot dot dash sound that notifies a new message in their group chat.

Michael tries not to look as smug as he feels when they each check and see a message from Akex, probably something along the lines of, I’m fine, talk to you soon.

Liz turns to look at him eyes narrowed, “What else do you know?”

Michael shrugs, “If he says he’s fine, then he’s fine.”

Liz gives him a slightly exasperated look. 

“But you know where he is?” Isobel asks, raising an eyebrow when Michael turns to look at her, like she’s daring him to lie to her.

“No,” Michael says, because he actually doesn’t know where Alex goes to lick his wounds in peace these days.

But then again, it hasn’t been this bad in a while.

“Then how do you know that he’s safe?” Maria demands.

Michael makes a face at her, “Because this isn’t the first time that he’s done something like this.”

Michael feels a little uncomfortable as everyone else shares several knowing glances, but sighs out in relief when Isobel nods before moving forward and grabbing her purse.

“You owe me lunch,” she tells Maria as she walks past her.

Maria scoffs and follows after her protesting that technically Alex was awake before the sun had risen, so Isobel was the one who owed her lunch.

Kyle starts composing a text message that Michael knows lists all of the things that Alex should be doing to take care of himself since he insists on not being in the hospital.

Liz goes to pack up her things and get her back, while Max leans back on his heels and gives Michael a speculative look.

“I can barely feel him,” he comments like it’s brand new and interesting.

Michael doesn’t tell him that it’s because Alex has had a lot of practice in blocking the bond from his end.

He just shrugs a little, “Alex has always been a little bit thick skulled.”

Max just looks at him like he doesn’t believe him and leaves the lab with Liz.

Michael walks over to the makeshift hospital bed and grabs the fluffy white and blue sheet from the pile and then leaves the lab as well, turning the lights off and closing the door behind him.

*

Michael makes a quick stop at the pharmacy as a text message lets him know that he was right about what Kyle had been doing, and by the time he makes it home, night has already fallen.

He finds Maria’s truck parked in front of the Airstream, because Alex knew where Maria kept her extra key, and parks right beside it, grabbing the two plastic bags from the pharmacy and getting out of the truck.

He hesitates at the door briefly, and then tells himself that this is his place and if Alex really wanted to be left alone, he wouldn’t have come here.

He walks inside of the Airstream, pulling on the door a little too hard, and even though he had already figured out that this is where he was, it was still a small shock to see him asleep in Michael’s bed, a half empty bottle of gatorade cradled in his arms.

He’s wrapped up in at least two of Michael’s sweaters (the only two good sweaters that Michael owns) and all of the sheets and blankets Michael had in his closet.

Michael vaguely remembers Kyle saying that his internal temperature was really low.

He keeps walking inside, closing the door behind himself absently and dropping the bags from the pharmacy on top of the counter.

He bends down and puts several new bottles of gatorade into the fridge and then walks over to the bed.

Almost like he felt Michael staring at him, Alex’s eyes flutter open, and he focuses immediately on Michael.

Michael can practically feel the way his heart beat speeds up and slows down at the sight of him.

Michael just crouches down beside the bed, close enough that he can reach with one hand and feel his forehead.

He’s slightly clammy, but feels almost cold to the touch, which Michael knows cannot be good.

He makes a deal with himself that if Alex’s temperature doesn’t go up by the morning, then he’ll let Kyle know where they are, but right now, he thinks that they can get this under control and keep it just between the two of them.

“What do you need?” Michael asks, ready to leave if Alex needs to be left alone.

Alex swallows hard, “I need you-”

He stops speaking, coughing a little like his throat is dry, and Michael waits as he leans up a little and drinks from the bottle in his hands.

He screws the top back on the bottle and then sighs leaning his head back into Michael’s pillows. He looks at Michael a little pitiful, and it tugs at all of Michael’s heart strings.

“You need to me do what?” Michael asks urging him to finish speaking.

Alex gives him a half smile, “I just need you.”

Michael feels his cheeks go a little warm, but gets back up to his feet and urges Alex to move over.

Alex does, grumbling a little to cover up the hiss of pain from moving with his strained ribs.

Michael bites down on his lip knowing from experience that Alex will deny all pain and probably actually tell Michael to go if he mentions it.

Michael gets into bed with him, careful to not squish Alex too much, which was inevitable in his bed.

Alex doesn’t seem to mind it as he moves, wrapping Michael’s arms around him, pulling him close, until their legs are twined together and Michael’s face is pressed to the back of his neck.

Michael tugs Alex in closer, pressing a kiss to the back of his neck, right behind his ear and slipping his hands beneath Alex’s shirt, spreading his fingers out against his trembling stomach.

Alex presses his hands down on top of Michael’s and inhales shakily, pushing his face into the pillow. 

After a few seconds, Alex’s shoulders begin to shake, and Michael wraps him up tighter, pressing his face into his shoulder and holding on tight.

“I thought I would never see you again,” Alex sobs, voice low and cracked, and just barely heard.

Michael presses another kiss to the back of his neck.

“I really thought that he was going to kill me this time,” he says next, and Michael shakes his head.

“I would’ve found you first,” Michael promises, fingers digging into the smooth skin of his stomach. “Even if you had died, I would’ve found you in the afterlife and brought you back.”

Alex just presses his face into the pillow and goes tense in Michael’s arms for a moment, before he relaxes all at once, pushing back into Michael, and inhaling shuddering breaths.

“I’m so cold,” he whispers then, and Michael leans even heavier against him, covering him up, pulling the sheets around their cocoon.

“I got you,” Michael says and presses another kiss to the back of his neck. “I’m right here, and I’ve got you, and I’m not letting you go.”

Alex whimpers low in his throat, and pushes even more into Michael like he’s trying to fuse their skin together.

Michael presses his forehead to the back of Alex’s neck and exhales, humming low in the back of his throat.

Alex starts humming the same song with him, until exhaustion pulls him under and he falls asleep.

Michael just holds on tighter to him, and keeps humming low and soothing until he falls asleep as well.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a kiss given without really thinking about it

Alex is only human.

It had been two weeks of having Michael in his cabin, leaving wet towels in the bathroom, cooking and leaving a mess in his kitchen, getting his shit all over Alex’s living room, keeping Alex awake at ungodly hours in the morning doing a secret _something_ or the other in the bunker, cursing up a storm when Buffy wakes him up two seconds after he finally decided to sleep like a normal person so he can let her outside, and then making coffee so that Alex has some to drink when he finally makes it out of his room.

It’s too much.

Alex has dreams where this isn’t temporary, where it includes Michael actually sleeping in his bed and waking up tangled together, where he can actually kiss him without having to have a long and overdue messy conversation.

Alex thinks that they’re at a good place right now, but he wants more, and he feels like after everything that they’ve been through, it should just be as easy as deciding to be together.

But he knows that that would never happen.

Alex sips his coffee and stares as Michael leans back on the couch that is right now replacing the bed that he lost when that bomb took out his bunker, the Airstream and almost half of Sanders’ Auto, and he thinks of how easy it was to get used to this, and how much it’s going to actually hurt when Michael finds a place to call home.

He needs to get out of here.

He hadn’t actually had anything planned for today, but he needs to leave before he actually does something drastic, like topple Michael into his bed and keep him there for the rest of the day.

He sets the coffee aside and grabs his keys in one motion.

“I have to-” he starts and turns to find Michael is not only not on the couch, but much closer than Alex expected.

“Going somewhere?” Michael asks, voice low and sleep hoarse.

He sounds sleepy and warm, and tired, and it doesn’t really help the urge Alex has to herd him back towards the wall and kiss him.

“Yeah,” Alex says. “Things to see, people to do.”

Michael furrows his brow at him, and Alex just tightens his fingers around his keys and leans forward a little, pressing a swift, chaste kiss to Michael’s mouth and moving towards the door.

“Bye,” he calls out over his shoulder and it’s not until he gets the door open and takes a step outside that he realizes what he just did.

He turns to find Michael in the same spot Alex left him in, lips slightly parted.

He turns to Alex, probably when he doesn’t hear the door close and his eyes are a little wide, surprised, clearly, but not in a bad way.

Alex takes a deep breath but Michael starts speaking first.

“Did you-?” He starts, letting the question fall in the air.

“Um, yes?” Alex answers back, taking a step forward when Michael turns fully towards him.

“Why?” Michael asks, biting down on his lip, a desperate look in his eyes as he looks at Alex intently.

Alex gives him a helpless look back. “I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do,” Michael replies taking a step towards him.

“I-” Alex starts matching Michael step for step, until they’re standing right in front of each other.

“I just-” he starts again and he feels a little faint and he can’t help the way that his eyes dart down to Michael’s mouth and stay there.

Alex thinks that Michael is standing too close, and it’s not helping him think straight, but before he can tell him that, Michael’s mouth curls into a soft smile, and Alex sways forward a little.

“Let me just make this easy for you,” Michael says, and then his hands are framing Alex’s jaw, fingers digging right behind his ears as he drags Alex in close and crushes their mouths together.

Alex makes a low sound at the back of his throat before he’s surging forward, wrapping his arms around Michael’s waist and kisses him back.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alternate universe where the evans never adopted isobel and max and they come to roswell to find out more about their family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> posted on tumblr on 12/13/19

Michael parks his truck right outside of the Wild Pony and he closes his eyes and concentrates, finding Isobel easily and tugging at her attention until he feels her making excuses to go outside for a minute.

He taps his fingers against the steering wheel, the movement betraying his nerves, and tries to keep himself under control.

If Isobel senses that he’s nervous she’s gonna give him the third degree immediately and what he really needs is his sister and not the Princess General barking orders.

Isobel opens the door, and Michael jolts, fingers flexing around the steering wheel before he lets it go and drops his hands to his lap, fingers wrapping around each other.

Isobel closes the door and turns towards him as Michael turns towards her.

She’s exuding frustrationand irritation which tells Michael that she’s not getting nearly as far with Valenti as Max is getting with DeLuca.

“Your report,” she demands instead of asking him what’s wrong, and Michael exhales a little in relief before he speaks.

“Things are going well, too well, actually,” he looks down to his hands, and he can feel her gaze turning towards him.

“Just say what you actually came here to say,” she snaps, the irritability winning out. “I’m in the middle of a date that could get us the codes for the bunker.”

Michael inhales deeply and looks back at her. “I don’t think I can keep doing this.”

Isobel tilts her head at him eyes narrowed, and while Michael can feel the slight pressure of her consciousness brushing against his, she doesn’t actually push inside of his mind, which he’s thankful for.

“We agreed that we would do whatever it took to find out exactly how much they know about us,” she starts.

“I know-” Michael starts to say, but she continues to speak like he didn’t say anything.

“You were the one who said that in order to do that we would have to infiltrate the system from the inside.”

Michael opens his mouth, but Isobel keeps speaking.

“You were the one who found the weakest links,”

Michael just sighs and waits her out.

“You were the one who came up with this plan in the first place, and had me convince Max that it was our only option, and now, when everything is going exactly as planned, you’re getting cold feet?”

“He told me that he loves me,” Michael blurts out, and silence falls inside of the truck.

Michael still can’t really believe it, but then again, ever since the beginning things had been different with Alex.

The first time that they had kissed, Michael had felt something slide into place deep inside of him, almost as though he had the missing pieces that had broken when Michael had crash landed on Earth.

He had just pushed it away, and locked it up in a box labeled _Warning! Do Not Touch_, had kept himself in denial, but Alex had blown the lid wide open saying those three little words, with his eyes wide open and honest and on Michael’s looking deep inside of him while he moved his hips between Michael’s thighs.

Michael had felt the words strike a chord deep inside of him, and he had dragged Alex in by his hair and had kissed him hard and desperate, distracting him enough that he made a noise in surprise when Michael had reversed their positions, pushing him to the side and down on the bed.

It wasn’t until much later that he realized exactly how fucked he was.

He had waited for Alex to fall asleep, and then he had slid out from beneath his arms, sitting down on the edge of the bed, back agaisnt the bed post, and he stared at Alex.

Watched him as he got more comfortable and buried his face in the pillow Michael had just moved away from, breathing in deeply and settling down, seeming to fall even deeper in sleep.

Michael had thought recklessly that he wanted to tell him the truth and it had hit him square in the chest, pushing the air out of his lungs.

He had thought with sudden clarity, oh, _oh fuck_.

And had left immediately, barely even getting his shirt over his head before he was out of the door, and he had driven straight to Isobel instead of Max.

“Alex is in love with me,” he says, and winces. He can hear the way it sounds, disbelief and a hint of something _more_.

Isobel snaps out of her daze immediately.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” She asks, turning towards him at the same time that he looks up to face her. “Doesn’t that just make your job easier?”

Michael exhales roughly and shakes his head looking away from her.

“Michael,” she says, and her voice is coaxing him to look at her, but he closes his eyes tightly and resists.

“_Michael_,” she says a little sharply. “What exactly is the problem?”

Michael tries to resist that too, but the words are out of his mouth before he can come up with something else to tell her.

“I think I’m in love with him, too.”


	18. a random au

Michael loses track of time to a bet and DeLuca’s cocky, _I’m gonna kick your ass_, grin and jolts, messing up his shot when he notices the time.

“I have to go,” He says, and pushes over the tray of empties and the cup of darts over to her side of the table.

“That’s an automatic forfeit, which means you’ll have to pay for the drinks, Guer!” She says before he can take a step towards the exit.

“I’m calling for a rematch, next week,” he says, as he pulls his wallet out of his pocket and drops three twenties on the table.

“Next week?” She asks, taking the cash before he changes his mind. “You’re here every night.”

Michael just grins at her, and grabs his hat from where he had it hanging on the back of the chair and leaves without saying a word.

He recklessly starts the truck before he even gets to door, and wastes no time getting on the road that will lead him out of Roswell.

The airstrip is just outside of the outskirts of the town, so it doesn’t take him long to get to the metal fence separating the landing area from the parking lot.

There is only one car in the lot, parked near the small blinking tower building and Michael can see the shadow of the large garage where they keep the planes when they’re grounded.

There aren’t any planes on the actual landing area which tells him that even though he’s late, Alex is running even later.

Michael gets out of the truck and pulls himself up on top of the cab, letting his legs fall to the side, boots hitting the driver’s side window with a light thud.

Michael props his hands behind himself and leans back looking up at the clear starry skies.

He breathes in the cool autumn air and tries to tamp down on the anticipation he can feel pouring through his veins, but it’s difficult to do that when he notices one star that starts to get bigger and brighter.

He watches the descent, not being able to look away, a helpless smile stretching across his mouth.

Alex lands the plane with little turbulence, and Michael waits impatiently as he gets the all clear to park the plane and do whatever it is he needs to do before he can leave it there for the rest of the week.

He sees Alex get out of the plane, ignoring Jackie, who is always his copilot, in favor of searching for Michael.

Michael feels it like something physical the moment that Alex’s eyes find him. He stays right where he is as Alex grabs his duffel and tells Jackie something that makes her push him as she walks towards the tower building.

Michael stares at Alex as he gets closer, taking him in, watching carefully as he ambles over, in his brown leather jacket that labels him as part of the Air Force, and his shades pushing his hair back away from his forehead.

Michael unlocks the gate with a tilt of his head as Alex gets closer, and Alex doesn’t question it.

Alex stops right in front of him, and Michael sits up so he can actually stare at him properly.

There are bags beneath his eyes, and a tilt to his mouth that tells Michael that he’s been more stressed than usual, but he’s _whole _and he’s _here_.

Michael drops down in front of Alex, and Alex barely even moves backwards.

He just smiles tiredly at Michael, and there is a look in his eyes that looks a lot like relief.

He drops his duffel down to his feet and his fingers clench to fists as he seems to struggle with something and Michael always hates the first few hours of Alex being back, because he always seems like he’s afraid that Michael will flinch away if he tries to touch.

Michael just opens his arms, inviting, and Alex makes a low noise at the back of his throat, like a sob, and then he’s pushing into Michael’s space, wrapping his arms around his waist and burying his face in the crook of Michael’s neck.

Michael wraps his arms tightly around his waist and tugs him even closer, feeling so complete with Alex in his arms, a feeling he forgets exists when Alex is gone and he never wants to let go when he has it back.

Alex inhales deeply, and then melts into him, leaning heavily against Michael, and pushing him back a little to lean against the truck.

Michael just tightens his hold on him, wanting to be even closer, but knowing that he has to wait a few more minutes before they get to the cabin.

Michael leans his head against the side of Alex’s head, spiky strands of hair tickling his nose.

“Welcome home, Captain,” he breathes quietly into the night air.

Alex just pushes his face even harder into Michael’s neck, and breathes in deep again.

“It’s good to be home.”


	19. part one: another secretly married au

Maria isn’t expecting Alex when there is a knock on the open door of her closed down bar, only three days after Michael came by and kissed her, and then left before they could talk about anything.

She yells that they’re closed, and he opens the door in response.

Maria feels dread creep up the back of her spine, remembering suddenly that there is a serial killer on the loose who killed someone in the parking lot of her bar, who has scouted people out inside of her bar, who has _drugged_ her, and she reaches for the bat she keeps right against the register and stops short when Alex steps inside.

He lets the door close behind him, and his eyes go immediately to her makeshift stage, where she keeps all of the instruments in her possession including the guitar that he had given her before leaving to join the Air Force.

She bites down on her lip wondering if he knows, but then again, she can be almost sure that he knows, if Michael couldn’t even keep Texas a secret from him for one day.

“Hey,” she says, wincing a little when her voice comes out a bit too high. “Haven’t seen you around here in a while.”

He doesn’t reply, but moves towards her slowly, a look in his eyes that she doesn’t really recognize, and when he stops in front of her, she feels it almost like something physical, the wall that is suddenly there, when he’d been an open book to her not even two weeks ago.

She furrows her brow, and he just gives her a tight lipped smile, before he wordlessly puts his hand into the pocket of his leather jacket and then pulls his fist out, like he has his fingers wrapped around something.

He sets his fist down right on the bar, right in front of her, and then exhales carefully, clenching his jaw, just like he did when he confirmed that Michael was Museum Guy.

It sends the feeling of dread creeping up her spine again, less insidious, but all the same.

He sets whatever is in his hand down and moves back, sticking both hands in his pockets, but every single cell in Maria’s body seems to be attuned to the golden ring that moves around, making tiny metal sounds, from when Alex had dropped it, before it stops, staying flat on top of the glossy wood of the bar, reflecting the light from the flickering candles on the shelf.

She looks at the ring intently, trying to gauge how old it is without picking it up, and then looks back up at Alex, who is stil just watching her intently, and he might have a wall up to stop her from reading his emotions, but his eyes can’t hide anything.

“No,” she says immediately. “There’s no way.”

Alex swallows hard and exhales. “You can’t blame him. He thought I was filing for divorce.”

Maria scoffs at that, and puts her hands down on top of the bar, on either side of the ring.

“You can touch it,” he says, flatly. “It’s not going to bite.”

Maria flexes her fingers but doesn’t move to pick it up.

“No,” she says again, looking at him, and hating the way his face twists at that, like he’s feeling sorry for her. “If you were married, Michael would’ve told me. He _hates_ secrets.”

Alex gives her a look at that, and Maria vividly remembers the look on Michael’s face the first time that she had told him that Alex was her best friend, the way he seemed surprised to know that she knew about them, and then the fact that he’s been avoiding her for the last three days, but had apparently made time to see Alex to let him know that he kissed her.

She swallows hard and looks back down at the ring.

The more she looks at it, the more it looks like something that was made by hand by someone new to the craft and not bought professionally.

She moves her hands carefully and picks the ring up with the pointer and thumb of her left hand, feeling like she should feel _something _but all she feels is the slightly cold metal and the dings around the edges, that if she looks closely, she can see, red rust stains, like blood that hadn’t been cleaned away properly, stuck in the grooves. The most damning thing is the inscription inside of the ring _MG ALWAYS_.

Maria sets the ring back down on the bar and slides it over to Alex’s side.

She inhales deeply, and tries to push away the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” She demands, looking up at him.

Alex inhales carefully. “Because I foolishly believed that you would keep your word.”

Maria scoffs at that. “You said that Guerin believed that you were filing for divorce. Why would he think that?”

Alex purses his mouth. “Because I was filing for divorce.”

“And now you’re not?” She asks, furrowing her brow and feeling confused, and a little humiliated at the fact that she hadn’t picked up _any_ of this.

Not from Michael. Not from Alex.

“Things changed,” he says, and moves forward to grab the ring.

He looks at it, and Maria feels for the first time since he walked into the bar, a pulse of emotion, a hopeless longing that makes her chest ache.

“We were young and dumb and I wanted to make sure that he would know if something bad had happened to me when I was overseas.”

Maria shudders with the feeling he’s exuding and then moves back away from the bar, closing herself off from him.

She had decided that she was going to do something for herself, and it’s backfiring epically, but there is still one part of this equation that she has a stake in.

“And does Michael know you are no longer filing for divorce?”

Alex clenches his fist around the ring, knuckles going white.

“He knows,” he says, voice flat. “He’s known for two weeks. I gave him the papers. Told him to file them himself if he wants the divorce so bad.”

Maria feels a spike of hope at that, at the fact that Michael had come to her, maybe he had filed the paperwork.

Alex makes a low noise at the back of his throat and it sounds hurt, and Maria just looks away from him, closing her eyes briefly. She’d forgotten that Alex knew how to read her almost as well as she knew how to read him.

She swallows hard and then clenches her jaw, looking back at him.

“I’m not going to apologize for-”

“I’m not asking for an apology,” he says cutting her off.

She exhales roughly. “Then why tell me now. When Michael could already have filed for divorce. Why not wait for Michael to tell me himself?”

“Because he won’t,” Alex says, looking at her like he can’t believe that she still thinks that Michael isn’t keeping more huge secrets. “And that’s not what this is about anyway.”

“You should’ve talked to me, before you decided that your feelings were the only ones that mattered.”

Maria bristles at that, “You don’t own, Michael. If what you’re saying is true, then he was free to chose anyone that he liked. And he chose to be with me-”

“Coming here after having a full week from hell isn’t making a choice, it’s falling into an old habit,” he snaps and Maria flinches back feeling like if he’d slapped her across the face.

“And you’re right, I don’t own Michael. I only came here to show you where I stand.”

Maria blinks her eyes at him, feeling like she took a wrong step somewhere but she can’t pinpoint where.

“I love him,” he says it easily, and Maria shuts her eyes tightly. She knew that, but she hadn’t exactly had a full confirmation. She hadn’t wanted one.

“And I’m not going anywhere. The choice is his, but I just wanted you to know exactly what you were getting yourself into.”

Maria licks her lips and nods her head once, sharply.

Alex smiles at her briefly, eyes sad and she feels her heart clench in her chest.

“Thank you for not lying to me this time,” he says.

Maria exhales roughly, but before she can say anything else, Alex is turning to leave.

“I can love him just as much as you can, you know,” she tells him.

Alex freezes and turns back to her slowly. He narrows his eyes, tilting his head at her, and gives her a look that makes her feel like he’s judging her, and finding her lacking.

“No, I don’t really think you can,” he says and she freezes to the spot, not even breathing.

He turns and leaves before she can even move.

Maria just watches him go.


	20. part two: another secretly married au

Maria goes to see Michael two days after her conversation with Alex.

Mostly she goes with the intention to offer her condolences, after leaving Liz asleep in her bed with Rosa to keep her company.

Maria is still reeling a little bit from the fact that Isobel Evans was an alien who was possessed by the serial killer, who was also an alien and the late Noah Bracken, and killed Rosa ten years ago, and that Max Evans was also an alien who brought her back in exchange for his own life.

But a big part of her goes to get confirmation or denial over her suspicions, because while Liz and Rosa hadn’t said anything, Michael was really close to both Isobel and Max, and if _he _was an alien as well, if _he _had known that Rosa had been framed to cover up the evidence of murder, she doesn’t know exactly what she would do, but she does know that in the grand scheme of things, finding out about his marriage to Alex is the last thing she’s thinking about when she parks the truck right by the office in Sanders’ Lot, to give her a few more minutes to think about how she wants to approach this.

She walks around the bus and her boot steps on something that crinkles and she looks down to see a wrinkled and dirty piece of paper. She leans down and picks it up, since it looks official, and her heart jumps to her throat when she reads the words _Petition for Dissolution of Marriage_.

She swallows hard and looks up to see Michael sitting down in one of his lawn chairs in front of the fire pit, looking into the flames like they hold all of the answers to the questions he wants to ask. 

He doesn’t seem to notice that she’s there. She exhales a little shakily when she sees all of the pieces of paper, which she guesses are the divorce papers, strewn around the ground, leading from where he’s sitting to the empty space right next to his truck where she can just barely make out fresh tire tracks.

She walks over to him, carefully, avoiding the papers in her path, the one she picked up clenched in her fists, and it’s not until she’s standing behind the chair opposite of him that she notices that he’s wearing a thin golden chain, that she’d noticed before, but not recently, and his fingers are clenched around the pendant, and it doesn’t really take her long to realize that it’s not a pendant hanging from that chain.

She clears her throat, and Michael startles, looking up at her and his eyes go even wider in shock when he realizes that she’s the one standing there, like he really wasn’t expecting her.

He immediately tucks the necklace beneath his shirt, and Maria feels like balling up the paper in her hands and throwing it in his face.

“Hey, DeLuca,” he drawls, slow and thick, standing up, and giving her that smirk, the one that always makes her stomach flutter. 

“Need me to fix something for ya?” he asks, the smirk accompanied by a head tilt and a raised eyebrow as he drags his eyes down from her face to the rest of her.

It makes her feel both hot and cold, and there is a sick feeling in her stomach that only gets worse, when his whole posture tenses up and shuts down as he sees the paper in her hands and realizes what it is.

“Were you ever going to tell me the truth or were you just going to keep avoiding me until you could come up with the perfect lie?” she asks, and the tension in Michael snaps and he just drops back into his chair with a sigh, dragging a hand through his hair.

He doesn’t respond, but the fact that he doesn’t look at her, but instead stares moodily at the fire, tells her more than enough.

She lets out a frustrated breath and crushes the paper in her hands into one fist. She feels like she’s shaking with the amount of emotions that want to burst out of her, hurt and pain and _anger _and humiliation.

“Okay,” she says, and he looks up at the sound of her voice, the way it’s nearly shaking with her emotions. “So you weren’t going to tell me that you’re married, that you didn’t know if you were still married when you slept with me in Texas, that you _knew _you were _still married_ when you came into my closed bar and kissed me like you _needed _me!”

Michael’s gaze is on her intent, and Maria has never felt so _seen _by him, and of course, it’s because she’s in a roundabout way talking about Alex.

She sees him move his hand to his chest, where she suspects the ring is hanging, pressed right against his warm skin, probably inscribed with the same message Alex’s own had, but with different initials.

“Fine,” she says. “Alex already told me the truth for you. But that’s not the only thing you’ve been keeping a secret from me.”

Michael’s eyes go a little wide, and she can see that he’s scared, practically terrified, but also, she can just make out, beneath the tangle of emotions shining in his eyes, the grief and the pain.

And she wishes that Alex had never told her anything, that she had never picked up the paper from the dirt, or seen the way he was holding on to his ring like it was the only thing he had left, because she wants to be there for him, wants to be the shoulder he cries on, wants him to hold her tight, like _she’s _the only thing that he has left, but she can’t.

She _can’t_.

She can’t push through all the lies and be comforting.

She inhales deeply.

“Funny story,” she starts. “Guess who is sleeping in my bed? Liz, after yelling and then crying her eyes out about Max, and a ghost, who died ten years ago, who I _grieved_, who I was _still _grieving, who was killed by the same person who drugged me, and brought back to life by Max Evans, who’s an alien, along with his sister.”

Michael’s eyes go a little wider and he gapes at her, like he can't believe what she is saying, and then, he seems to go tense all over and his eyes dart over her shoulder and stay there.

She thinks that it’s because he can’t look at her in the eyes. She’s too incensed to hear the car door slamming shut.

“And you know, it’s not that difficult of a leap to realize that you are one too, and for one singular second, I actually wanted to believe that you weren’t, that you would’ve told me, because, you hate secrets, but I guess that that only applies to Alex, huh?”

He swallows hard and looks away from her.

“You promised me you wouldn’t tell anyone about Texas, and not even a day later, he walks into my bar knowing it. So tell me. Does Alex know that you’re an alien?”

“Yes,” she hears Alex says from behind her, and she jumps and feels her heart stop and start in her chest before it starts pounding loudly. “I know. But don’t think that’s so special. He didn’t tell me either.”

Maria looks at Michael, whose entire focus is on Alex, and she exhales roughly and turns around.

Alex at least has the decency to look at her in the eyes.

“How long have you known?” She asks, honestly curious.

“For months,” he responds, raising an eyebrow at her, like to say that it had only taken him a few weeks of being back in Roswell to figure it out when she hadn’t in the ten years he’s been gone.

“And you didn’t think that was something you should’ve told me, when you told me that you were married?" 

"No,” he responds immediately. “That wasn’t my secret to tell.”

Maria scoffs at that, and turns back to Michael, who is _still _looking at Alex, almost like he hadn’t expected him to come back.

Before she can say anything, he’s speaking after being silent for the entire time that she was talking to him.

“What are you doing here? Forget something in your rush to leave?”

His voice is caustic, and right on the edge of hostile, but there is something more genuine in the way that he’s staring at Alex that wasn’t there when he had been talking to her.

Alex doesn’t even bristle. He takes a step around Maria and the chair she’s standing behind and stops right next to Michael, holding out a manila folder towards him.

Michael just stares at it for one full second before he looks up to Alex’s face, an eyebrow raised in question.

“It’s all the information I could find dealing with anastasis in the Caulfield files,” he says and it sounds almost like he’s speaking in code, but its’ a code that Michael seemingly understands because he grabs the folder and opens it up immediately.

Alex just stands and waits for Michael to read, hands jammed into his pockets as he stares at Michael, and Maria can just make out his expression, something fond and exasperated.

“Caulfield?” she asks, and Alex’s eyes flicker over to her once, before Michael makes a low noise that she’s never heard before, almost a cautious type of excitement.

Alex turns back to Michael who looks up to face him at the same time.

“This could actually work,” he says and his voice sounds awed, and he’s looking at Alex like he’s done something wonderful.

Alex nods his head once, “I have the video footage, but I didn’t think that you would want to-”

Michael stands up at that, the move placing him firmly in Alex’s personal space.

Alex doesn’t back away.

“Is _she_-?” Michael starts and then cuts himself off, and there is so much anguish on his face that Maria feels an ache deep in her chest.

She wonders who he is the _she _that he’s talking about.

Alex drags his hands out of his pockets and his arms are barely aloft, before Michael is crashing into him, fingers wrapping tightly in the collar of his shirt as he pushes into Alex’s embrace while also making an attempt to keep him back, almost like he’s powerless to crumble in front of him, like he wants the comfort but doesn’t know how to accept it.

Alex catches him easily, fingers wrapping tightly right above his elbows, clenching the fabric of his jacket as he keeps Michael steady.

Michael gasp, a noise that sounds more like a sob, and he drops his forehead to Alex, who pushes in close, pressing the bridge of his nose against Michael’s forehead.

He says something too low for Maria to hear, but Michael’s fingers tighten on his jacket, a low whining noise escaping from the back of his throat.

They sway in place with the push and pull of their embrace.

Maria feels like they’ve forgotten all about her, and she takes the moment to get the feelings of helpless anger under control as she stares at Alex comforting Michael, because that was supposed to be her. 

She was supposed to be the one that he came to when he needed someone to hold on to. She was supposed to be the one to hold him steady, like he held her steady. She was supposed to be the one that he needed. He had chosen her. She was supposed to be the _one_.

But watching this, the way that Alex keeps him close, the way that Michael keeps pushing in close, the way they fit together like jagged broken pieces that had been worn away at the edges until they only fit with each other, she realizes that he hadn’t chosen her at all.

She had thought that what was happening between them was something real, and maybe it could’ve been, but the facts were that Alex had already given Michael the choice to make, and Michael had already made it when he hadn’t filed the divorce papers, and all of that had nothing at all to do with her.

Maria unclenches her hands and lets the crumpled paper fall to the floor.

She stares at them for a second longer, watching as Michael moves, leaning his forehead to Alex’s and opens his wet eyes slowly, tears staining his cheeks, and the way that he looks at Alex, sends a bolt right through her chest.

She raises a hand to her mouth muffling the sob that wants to fall out, and turns around, heading back to her truck. 

Her eyes dart to the rearview mirror as she leaves the junkyard, and she spots them, still leaning against each other, neither of them taking notice that she’s not there anymore.

She shakes her head, laughing a little self deprecating, and pushes down hard on the gas, kicking up a storm of dust as she leaves.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sort of arranged marriage au

Alex is staring at his reflection, at the shiny golden make-up that had been painted across the bottom half of his face, at the way he can see right there reflected back at him through his eyes that this is one hundred percent the biggest mistake of his life, but he’s not going to be the one to break the tentative treaty between Antar and Earth just because he was going to be miserable for the rest of his life.

The door to his private chambers opens and Alex startles, jumping backwards and immediately getting into a defensive position, hand flying to his hip before he remembers that he doesn’t carry a gun anymore and that he has a group of personal bodyguards stationed outside every conceivable entrance.

Michael closes the door behind himself with a loud thunk and exhales roughly, turning to look for Alex, already speaking.

“Man, these doors of yours weigh a ton, what are they trying to keep ou-”

He trails off as he catches sight of Alex, and Alex tries not to look as uncomfortable as he feels in the practically sheer, golden tunic that he’s wearing.

“What are you doing here?” Alex demands in a low voice, taking a menacing step forward.

Michael just blinks at him, lips slightly parted, like he’s been struck stupid by something.

Alex doesn’t have time for this. He has to mentally prepare himself for the first day of the rest of his life, and Michael can’t be standing right there looking like all of the reasons that Alex shouldn’t go through with this.

“Guerin,” he snaps, and Michael just keeps staring. “Just say what you need to say and go. I have to finish getting ready.”

That seems to snap Michael out of whatever daze he’s in as he pushes himself off the doors and stalks towards Alex, absolutely predatory.

“Right,” he drawls, slowing to a stop right in front of Alex, closer than they have been over the last six months, ever since Alex found himself taking a lead role in the negotiations between the Antarian Royals and the Ambassadors of Earth. “You have to finish getting ready for your _wedding_.”

He grimaces as he says the last word and Alex really doesn’t have time to hear _another_ speech about how he’s making a mistake, especially from Michael.

“Look,” Alex says crossing his arms across his chest. “I already heard the speech from Liz and from Maria and from Kyle and even from Isobel _and_ Max. I already know you all think it’s a shitty idea. But no one seems to be able to come up with a better one! So if you’re not here to offer something constructive please get out.”

Michael swallows hard and stares at him for a long moment before he takes another step closer, placing himself firmly at arm’s length.

“Did you mean it?” He asks, and doesn’t elaborate, but it’s not like Alex doesn’t already know that he’s talking about the speech that Alex had made in front of the Antarian Royal Counsel and had been streamed all over the planet and all over Earth.

Alex drops his hands to his sides, sighing, “Of course I meant it. I wouldn’t have said it otherwise. What your people need is honesty, not more lies.”

Michael swallows hard and shakes his head a little, “I don’t want you to have to do this out of some twisted sense of duty and responsibility over what your ancestors did to mine years ago.”

“That’s not the only reason that I’m doing this,” Alex says, and Michael gives him an incredulous look.

“You mean you actually _like_ that pompous dick?”

Alex rolls his eyes a little. There is literally _nothing_ likeable about Sir Yenn, heir apparent to the throne of Antar. Alex hopes that he’ll get to pick a wing of the castle and never have to deal with him, but he knows that’s probably a vain hope.

“No,” he says, because he promised Michael, no more lies or secrets what feels like _years_ ago. “This is the only way to keep the treaty.”

Michael stares at him for a long moment.

“So you’re doing this because a union between an Earth Ambassador and an Antarian Royal is what is needed to close the deal?”

“Liz and Max can’t do it since you all cut ties to the Antarians and abdicated your birthright to remain on Earth. Maria offered, but Isobel would kill me if I picked her up on it, and besides, none of them deserve to be trapped in a loveless marriage.”

“But you do?” Michael asks, voice tight with tension, and a strange inflection that Alex doesn’t have the time to analyze right now.

“I’m not married or about to get engaged or even have anyone waiting for me back on Earth. There is nothing that I wouldn’t give up to do this.” Alex responds.

“What about me?” Michael bites out.

Alex’s brow furrows in confusion. “_What_ about you?”

Michael gapes at him for a second like he can’t believe that Alex asked that before he speaks.

“If you think that I’m just going to _let_ you go through with this-” he starts incensed and takes another step forward.

Alex scoffs and takes a step towards him as well, “Let me? _Let me_? Who do you think you are, Guerin? Because my dad died months ag-”

“I think that I’m the man that _loves_ you that’s what!” He snaps and Alex stops speaking, eyes going wide as he gapes at Michael.

“And if you’re getting married to anyone today, it’s going to be _me_.”

Before Alex can ask him what he means by that. Michael’s fingers are pressing against his jaw, tugging him forward, gentle but insistent.

Michael’s mouth crashes into his and Alex promptly forgets about everything else.

He wraps his arms around Michael’s waist and sinks into the kiss, pushing against Michael and kissing him harder.

Michael bites against his mouth, making low desperate sounds at the back of his throat as he drags his hands into Alex’s hair, messing it all up as he uses the hold to keep Alex still as he licks into his mouth and deepens the kiss.

Alex whines low in the back of his throat and tangles his hands in the silky fabric of the coat Michael is wearing and moves in closer, feeling the heat of Michael sink into him.

Michael parts their mouths on a gasp and drops his forehead to Alex’s.

“You love me?” Alex asks breathless.

Michael just pushes their foreheads together harder. “You can’t get married to someone else.”

Alex closes his eyes tightly.

“We don’t have any other choice,” he says in a low voice.

“There is _always_ another choice,” Michael says, and then he’s kissing Alex again, and Alex kisses him back, feeling it finally sinking in that this will be the last time that he’ll ever get this.

He had had this thought before plenty of times but there was something so much more permanent about what he was about to do than when he’d joined the Air Force.

Michael parts their mouths again, and Alex’s eyes flutter open.

He looks at Michael and Michael stares right back and for the first time in a long time, Alex feels seen. He wonders if it will be the last time.

“You’re doing this no matter what, huh?” He asks, voice low and rhetorical, already knowing the answer, but Alex speaks anyway.

“It’s the only way to make sure that everyone is safe,” Alex whispers back.

Michael inhales deeply, “Okay.”

Alex feels the air catch painfully at the back of his throat and his eyes dart all over Michael’s face, and he feels a little bit disappointed about the fact that Michael isn’t going to fight him about this anymore.

His hands go tighter in the fabric of his jacket and he pushes their foreheads together harder, shaking his head. “Guerin, I-”

The doors open again, crashing hard enough against the walls that the sound reverberates around the room.

Michael and Alex jump away from each other, Michael moving to block Alex with his body.

Standing in front of the open doors is Alex’s husband to be, along with half of the Royals and most of Alex’s body guards, staring at them with an air of disapproval.

Alex doesn’t have to look in the mirror to see that both of their faces are covered in the gold makeup that two ladies had painstakingly covered Alex’s face in earlier.

“What is the meaning of this?” Sir Yenn asks, and Alex inhales deeply, preparing himself to speak, when Michael talks.

“This whole wedding thing that’s supposed to happen, it has to be between one of your blood and one from earth, is that right?” He asks, Marrth, the Matriarch, and Old Queen Mother, progenitor of the current Royal line, including Michael.

“That is correct,” she says, and there is a spark in her eyes that Alex has never seen in the last couple of months of negotiations.

“Alright,” Michael says. “Then I change my mind.”

Alex freezes for one second as understanding sinks through him as he finally gets what Michael has been trying to tell him.

“I, Prince General Rath of Antar, fourth of my name, renounce my abdication and hereby claim my birthright to the throne of Antar.”

“Michael,” Alex says, finally finding his voice.

Michael turns to him, and there is a wild look in his eyes, but also determination.

Michael doesn’t let him speak as he drops to one knee in front of Alex, and Alex freezes again.

“And as Prince General and the Heir to the Throne, I ask you, Captain Alexander Manes, Ambassador of Earth and Keeper of the Treaty, to become my husband and so uniting both of our worlds for the rest of time?”

Alex stares at Michael still feeling shocked at this turn of events and not entirely comfortable in front of all of these people, but when it comes down to it, there is only one answer that Alex has for Michael.

“Yes,” he breathes, and feels how the entire room seems to sigh in relief. “Of course.”


	22. find peace and build a home out of it

Alex Manes was born into a war and he’s been fighting for survival ever since he took his first struggling breath.

Alex knew that his childhood wasn’t normal in more ways than one. He knew that it wasn’t normal to have an absentee mother who finally decided that she could be even more effectively gone if she was _actually_ gone or a father whose methods of child rearing were better suited for cadets in boot camp, who had backhanded Alex across the face, splitting open his bottom lip when Alex was ten years old and had made a comment about what a pretty color Kyle’s eyes were.

He was twelve years old, nursing three bruised ribs, but forcing a smile on his face for Maria’s sake, so that he didn’t ruin her birthday party, when Mimi had pulled him aside into the kitchen and had pressed a pack of peas against his ribs over his shirt and had cupped Alex’s face in her hands when he had taken ahold of the icy cold bag.

She had looked at him with big wide eyes, full of concern and something that looked very much like love, and had said, “You are in the middle of a war that is far from over, find your peace and make a home out of it.”

And then she had pressed a kiss to the top of his forehead and had quietly escaped back out into the party.

He hadn’t understood what she meant at first, but by the time that he was fifteen and lining his eyes black and teaching himself to play the guitar until his fingers bled and feeling like the only time that he ever felt _free_ was when he was lost in the music, either making it or listening to it, he figured that he had it all figured out.

The first time that Michael kisses him, he realizes that he was wrong.

There was a freedom in music in the idea that one day Alex would be able to use it as a ticket to get the hell out of Roswell and as far away from his father as possible.

But freedom was nothing compared to the feeling that spread through him the second that Michael’s mouth crashed into his.

Being around Michael up until that point had felt like that second right before you’re pulled under water, you can feel whatever it is brushing against your skin, and your heart starts to race, and you know that you’re going to drown, and there is no way to stop it, but your body is still trying to tell you to fight. 

Alex had just figured that maybe Michael was just another battle that he had to survive against, and then Michael kissed him, and every single thought in Alex’s head evaporated, every single worry and fear he felt disappeared into thin air, and for the first time in his _life_ he felt a stillness deep inside as though everything was going to be okay now, better than okay, a feeling like nothing he had ever felt before.

It had been the easiest thing in the world to follow Michael to his truck, ignoring the fact that his shift wasn’t over for another couple of hours, to lead him back to the toolshed, to place his fingers gently along the curve of his neck and pull him in and kiss him.

It was so, so _easy_, and for the first time in his life Alex felt like maybe he hadn’t been born wrong, that it was possible for someone to love him and to love him like _this_, something that had felt all consuming and _terrifying_, but exhilarating all at once.

Alex dragged his fingers into Michael’s hair making him gasp, and right there in the corner of his mouth, that’s where Alex set down a welcome mat, dragging his hands down Michael’s neck and across the width of his shoulders and down his arms, encircling his wrist and created a path that will lead right into the front door, placing Michael’s hands on his hips as he pushes his face into Michael’s chest and presses an open mouthed kiss to where his heart is thundering and right there is where the door is.

He drops to his knees, feeling reverent, pressing a kiss right above Michael’s bellybutton and Michael’s hands catch on either side of his head, fingers digging into his jaw, and Alex looks up at him, and Michael is looking down at him with eyes that shine like gold and lips that are cherry red and parted and he’s looking at Alex like he’s every answer to every question that he’s ever had in the known universe.

“Are you sure?” Michael asks him, voice low and sweet and worried.

“I’ve never been more sure about anything,” Alex replies back, voice low and soft and with conviction.

Michael drops to his knees in front of Alex, bringing their faces closer together, and Michael pulls him in for a kiss, and Alex feels like he’s finally found his home, and he’ll do anything in his power to keep him safe.


	23. season two episode two coda

Michael meant what he said, but still, Alex was standing too close, and his eyes had flickered to Michael’s mouth before he’d looked away, licking his lips and darting his eyes to the side like he was looking for an excuse to walk inside of his house.

Michael had been itching to get his hands on him since he’d gotten out of the car, the way he looked in his military fatigues sending a jolt through him that wasn’t at all unfamiliar. Michael always wants to unpeel all of the layers of Alex’s uniform, always felt like Alex was a present just for him to unwrap. 

But he could fight against that easily.

It was when Alex had turned to look back at him, something too soft and too vulnerable in his face, as he opened his mouth, that had hit Michael somewhere deep in the pit of his stomach.

And well, Michael will probably always be weak when it comes to Alex Manes.

He doesn’t hesitate, knowing that if he second guesses himself even for a second that he won’t go for it.

Alex is already exactly where Michael wants him, and Michael fits his hands on either side of Alex’s jaw, and drags his thumbs across the stubble to his chin, pressing down and parting Alex’s lips.

Alex makes a low surprised sound, something that vaguely sounds like Michael’s last name, and Michael swallows it whole.

Alex stays perfectly still in Michael’s hands, almost like he’s not breathing, for one crystal clear second where Michael thinks that maybe he’s made a horrible mistake, and then Alex is surging forward, pushing him back towards his truck.

Michael feels the back of his knees hit the open tailgate and he almost falls back if it wasn’t for Alex who drags his fingers into Michael’s hair and holds on tight, biting against Michael’s lips and licking into his mouth.

Michael moans low in the back of his throat and lets his hands slide down to the collar of Alex’s shirt, gripping tightly to the tough fabric and pulling until the first button pops open.

Alex doesn’t seem to notice as he pushes further into Michael’s space, until they’re pressed so close together Michael can feel Alex’s stomach trembling, feet overlapping, fingers tightly wound in Michael’s hair as he kisses him deep and wet until Michael is gasping against his mouth, taking shallow breaths before Alex is dragging him back into another kiss, licking into Michael’s mouth and swallowing the low wrecked sound Michael makes.

They kiss for what feels like too long, and not long enough, until Michael’s head feels hot and dizzy and his fingers are digging hard into Alex’s back and his mouth feels heavy and swollen and all he wants is to fall back and take Alex with him.

Alex licks against his mouth as he pulls away and Michael’s eyes flutter open as he stares at Alex, who doesn’t open his eyes, pulling his bottom lip into his mouth like he’s savouring this moment, like he expects it to never happen again.

He knows he’s right, when Alex’s eyes blink open, and he inhales deep and deliberately, moving backwards, tugging against Michael’s hold on him.

Michael thinks really hard about letting him go, but instead he wraps his arms tighter around Alex, who stumbles into him, even though there is barely any space between them, hands tangling in the collar of Michael’s shirt and holding on tight.

Michael slides their mouths together into another kiss, and Alex makes a low noise against his mouth that sounds a lot like surrender, opening his mouth to Michael’s easily, draping his arms heavily across Michael’s shoulders and winding his fingers into his hair once again, leaning heavily against him.

He lets Michael keep control of the kiss for a few seconds before he tightens his fingers in Michael’s hair and holds him still, dragging their mouths apart for one second to inhale deeply before he kisses him again in the same exact way that he does when he has to leave but he doesn’t want to.

Slow and deep, dragging low noises from the back of Michael’s throat as he licks into Michael’s mouth and seems to be on a mission to conquer every single inch of it.

Michael slides his hands roughly down beneath Alex’s shirt, and he tugs uselessly against where his undershirt is tucked into his pants, whining low in the back of his throat in protest.

Alex is chuckling low and so hot as he pulls away from Michael already knowing how his hands don’t seem to work properly when he gets a little too desperate.

Alex licks his bottom lip and Michael chases it with his gaze, before he looks up into Alex’s eyes, wanting to get back to the kissing before either of them remembered that it was a bad idea.

Something must’ve changed in his face because Michael sees the moment that reality crashes back down on Alex.

His eyes go a little wide, and he inhales sharply.

Michael doesn’t like that. He wants Alex to kiss him again, and it must show on his face again because Alex’s eyes go even wider, the surprise too real and startling that when Alex moves back Michael lets him go.

He drops back down onto the tailgate, and Alex almost makes it halfway back to his car, hands shaking as he raises one to his mouth and then he scrubs the hand across his face and looks around everywhere but back at Michael before he says.

“I think you should go, Guerin,” he says, almost spitting out his last name like a curse, and Michael just nods his head once, looking down to the ground, taking the hit.

Alex takes a few steps forward, inhales deeply, almost like he wants to say something else, before he sighs, and then Michael hears him making his way to the door.

Michael clenches his hands and bites down on his bottom lip so that he doesn’t reach out for Alex, made even more difficult by the way his mouth feels hot and swollen, and all he wants is to follow right after him and push him against his front door and drop to his knees and take him apart with his mouth.

The door closes, almost slamming shut, and Michael closes his eyes and tilts his head up to the sky, breathing in deep and deliberately.

He feels something sweet and warm flickering in the center of his chest, something that feels a lot like hope.

He lets it simmer in his chest for a few seconds savouring the feeling before he exhales, opening his eyes and lets it go.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> basically alex is always prepared

“Now,” the alien guard says after he lets Michael, Max and Isobel through the doors, they stand awkwardly behind him, not moving any further even though there is someone else very obviously trying to get their attention. “Before we let the humans into the Summit, you will need to relinquish all of your weapons.”

No one moves.

Alex tilts his head and looks at Michael raising an eyebrow, and Michael just raises one back at him.

“The people that can kill you with one thought don’t want us to bring in weapons into their Summit?” Alex asks, sounding out exactly how stupid he thinks this rule is.

The guard standing in front of the door just lifts his head a little higher, and pushes forward an empty rolling tray.

“If you would please comply, we have a lot of things to get through today,” he says.

Alex sighs and shares a look with Jenna.

Liz steps forward.

“Okay,” she says, and pulls a knife out of her boot. She sets it down on top of the tray, and turns to the others.

“What?” She says at the looks they give her. “It never hurts to be prepared.”

Maria steps forward next, tugging a taser out of her jacket pocket, and a switchblade from the bottom of her shoe, setting them down next to Liz’s knife, and she glares at the guard.

“If you lose these, I am going to be very upset.”

The guard loses all of the color to his face, but waves both Maria and Liz through.

Kyle sighs long and suffering, and looks at Alex, “I told you that arming ourselves was a bad idea.”

He pulls a can of mace out of his pocket and sets it down next to Maria’s taser.

Jenna steps forward then, rolling her eyes, and she pulls out a gun from her side holster, a smaller gun from an ankle holster, two daggers in sheaths tapped to the small of her bag, a baton pulled out from the side of her pants, two more daggers strapped to her other ankle, and another gun out from inside of her pants.

She places everything down as she takes it out, and Kyle’s mouth is hanging open as he stares at her.

She just rolls her eyes even harder, “Look, you all have your toys. I have mines.”

The guard waves her through with Kyle, and then that just leaves Alex.

Alex looks at the guard, who back at him steadily.

“Alex,” Michael finally snaps, and Alex sighs, long suffering and steps closer to the tray and starts to remove the weapons hidden on his person.

He pulls out two guns strapped to his back, another one on an ankle holster, two long blades strapped to the inside of his forearms, a set of grenades in his pockets, two more knives from shoulder holsters, another gun hidden against his side, a code breaker that doubles as a taser, somehow a baseball bat, and finally a pair of nunchucks.

He drops them on the now overloaded tray and moves to walk inside, when the guard stops him and gives him a look, “I said all of your weapons.”

Alex huffs out a breath and then glares at Michael, who raises his hands up in defense, and then takes out a blade from inside of his mouth, the bracelet he’s wearing which can be used as a knife in a pinch, a pack of unassuming dots imbued with enough ricin to kill a grown man in two seconds, and another gun tapped on his hip.

The guard still doesn’t let him pass, and Kyle makes a highly incredulous noise, like he doubts that Alex could have more weapons on his person.

Alex just scoffs, and then lifts his right leg up, and pulls his pants up, pressing a button alongside his prosthetic which makes a whish sound and then a thin blade pops out from the side and falls to the floor with a clatter.

“Is that all?” Alex says, and the guard looks like he wants to ask Alex that question, but instead he lets him pass.

Kyle looks from him to Jenna and back again, “Are you guys always packing that much heat?”

“Uh, yeah,” both Jenna and Alex answer at the same time with matching expressions like they can’t understand why the others don’t carry as much weapons as they do.

“They didn’t notice my knock out ring though,” Jenna says, wiggling her hand in Alex’s face.

Alex makes a low jealous noise grabbing her hand, “How many volts?”

“What the hell is a knock out ring?” Kyle asks.

“This,” Jenna says, twisting the diamond on top of her ring and then pressing her hand down on Kyle’s neck.

A jolt goes through him, and he makes a low grunting sound before he falls on the floor, unconscious.

“I want one,” Alex says sounding awed. “But look, I got to keep the bow watch!”

He shows the watch to Jenna, who oohs and aahs, to everyone’s confusion.

“What is a bow watch?” Isobel asks, sounding curious as she steps closer to them.

Jenna presses a button, and a side compartment opens from the side of the watch and out flies a tiny pin that hits the far wall strong enough that the wall, cracks a little.

“Okay,” Maria says, stretching out the vowels. “Now that Alex and Jenna have proven that it is possible to have more weapons, can we please get a move on? I’m hungry and I think that guy is about to have a heart attack.

They all turn to the guy who had been trying to get Max and Michael and Isobel’s attention earlier, who is now looking at them all in despair.

"Please follow me,” he says in a voice that speaks of how much he doesn’t want to do this.

Alex lets everyone go before him, Max and Jenna propping Kyle up between them, and he stops Michael and lets everyone pass before he pushes into Michael’s space until they’re against the wall, pressed close from chest to knee, ignoring the highly distressed noise that Isobel makes.

Alex makes a low pleased noise. “Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just very happy to see me?”

“Surprise,” Michael says a little strained as Alex starts searching for the gun badly. “I knew they would let us pass and stop you since they don’t trust hu_mans_!”

Michael just barely squeaks the last word, and Alex slides his hands out of his pants with a fake, “Oops?”

He slides the gun from Michael’s pocket to his own, and then leans in a little bit closer, “Wanna skip out on the meetings and-”

“Michael!” Isobel’s voice calls out, and Michael just smiles sheepishly at Alex.

“As good as that sounds,” Michael starts.

“Her majesty is calling,” Alex finishes with a sigh, and pulls away from Michael.

Michael moves to walk pass him and Alex catches his hand, threading their fingers together and lets Michael pull him along, feeling a little bit more secure and in control.

Michael just squeezes his fingers like he knows exactly what Alex is thinking and leads him into the room with the rest of their friends.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> teenage malex making out while high

The only reason that Alex even comes to the party at Valenti’s is because he knows exactly where to hide out until Liz gets tired of following Kyle around and getting slobbered on when they kiss.

Alex finds the theory of making out with someone to be kind of appealing, but in practical applications (from observing, not experiencing) it just seems to be gross.

Why would you want someone’s tongue in your mouth anyway? It’s especially gross considering that most teenage boys have no idea what dental hygiene actually is.

So Alex leaves Liz to get trapped between a wall and a Valenti, and ducks out of the back door making a pit stop in the kitchen for one of the sixers cooling in the fridge, closing it behind himself and exhaling in relief when it cuts the music down by at least forty five percent.

He inhales deeply and walks across the backyard, smiling when he sees the treehouse.

The rope ladder creaks alarmingly when he climbs up, but it holds his weight when he tests it, and it doesn’t take him long to get inside of the treehouse.

There’s enough dust and cobwebs and dry leaves and twigs inside to let Alex know that no one has been up here in awhile.

Alex doesn’t mind. It just means that no one will actually come bother him.

He walks over to the rope that they had rigged to hold the trap door on the roof down, and it almost breaks in his hands, but it opens the trap door with a loud squeak, and the sounds of dry leaves and twigs sliding off.

Dirt and leaves fall inside, but once it settles and Alex is able to look up, he can see the stars.

Alex finds an old cushion in one corner and uses it to dust off a small area so he can sit down, setting the beers down beside himself.

The space is just wide enough that he can sit and stretch his legs out. If he points his foot, he’d be able to touch the far wall with the tip of his boot.

It’s about the same in length as it is wide, but it’s almost twice that in height, which meant that Alex could stand comfortably.

He tugs his phone out of his pocket and unravels his headphones wrapped around the case and slips them into his ears.

Alex presses shuffle on his i don’t give a fuck playlist, and leans his head back against the wall, closing his eyes shut and exhaling as the music starts blasting in his ears.

Alex pops open a beer and loses himself to the music, leaning his head back and looking up at the stars occasionally.

He’s still sipping on his first beer when he feels the wooden floors shudder, like someone is climbing up the rope.

Alex gathers his feet to his chest, and holds the beer tightly in his hand, ready to throw it at the first sign of one of Valenti’s Goons, but he goes still when Michael Guerin’s curly head pops up through the entrance in the far left corner.

His eyes are delighted when he looks around, and they seem to sparkle even more when he spots Alex, and starts to speak, but Alex can’t really hear what he’s saying.

He pulls the headphones out in time to hear, “-but I can make myself scarce if it bothers you.”

He’s holding out a joint that he had tucked right by his ear, so Alex deduces that he was just looking for a place to smoke and Valenti had sent him out here.

He looks back to Michael, whose eyes are beginning to dim slightly and opens his mouth.

“You can stay if you’re willing to share.”

Michael’s smile lights up his entire face and probably the entire state of New Mexico, “Yes, dude! My bud is your bud.”

He tucks the joint back behind his ear, and then pulls himself the rest of the way into the treehouse.

Alex moves to the furthest corner, not really caring about his pants getting dirty, and sets his phone down beside the beers, tugging one can free from the plastic and holding it out to Michael who sits down right next to Alex, about a foot separating them, and he smiles when he sees the beer, reaching out to grab it and pooping the tab open with one hand before he chugs most of the can.

“Thanks,” he says once he lowers the can down and sets it aside. “I was parched.”

Alex just waves the gratitude away and stares at Michael as he moves the joint from behind his ear to his mouth, pulling a lighter out from his pocket.

Alex stares as he lights it up, and takes the first hit, inhaling deeply, and letting his head fall backwards.

Alex licks at his suddenly dry mouth, and he tries to remind himself that even though Michael is sweet and nice and looks at Alex with big hero worship eyes for knowing all of the guitar parts to My Chem’s _Bullets_, it doesn’t mean that Michael is interested in him like _that_.

Alex knows that Michael only really talks to Isobel and Max, and they’re weirdly codependent to a slightly unhealthy degree, so it figures that Michael doesn’t know how to act in a friendly manner like a normal person and goes over the top.

Alex grabs his own can of beer, and takes a small sip just to wet his mouth.

Michael passes the joint over to him, and Alex who has only ever smoked once before with Maria and Rosa, coughs out the first inhale, the smoke dragging across his throat painfully.

Michael slides over and thumps Alex on the back, a little too hard, and takes the joint out of his fingers before he drops it.

Once Alex is able to fill his lungs with air, Michael shows him what to do.

“Just go slow at first,” he says, voice throaty as he passes the joint back over to Alex, smoke curling out of his mouth. “And try to hold the smoke in for as long as you can. And then breathe out slowly.”

Alex nods his head, and does what Michael tells him to do, and he still feels the urge to cough, but he manages to hold it until he lets the smoke out again. This time when he coughs it hurts less.

“Take another hit,” Michael urges, and grabs his beer to drink the rest of it.

Alex does as he’s told, and this time when he holds the smoke in, it almost feels like he goes lightheaded, and he sways backwards, head thumping against the wall, before he’s exhaling, blowing the smoke up in the air.

Michael snickers, and takes the joint out of his fingers, leaning back next to Alex, their shoulders brushing.

They pass the joint back and forth, and Michael produces another one tucked behind his other ear, and when he offers it to Alex after Alex burnt his fingers on the other one, Alex offers him another beer.

They pass that joint back and forth until Alex is giggling too much to actually take another hit.

Michael doesn’t say a lot, but he’s funny, and leans heavily on Alex’s shoulder while Alex talks, which he figures out that being high, and being slightly buzzed, turns him into a chatterbox.

He tells Michael about building the treehouse, about it being his idea to have the trap door on the roof, about how much he loves the stars, about how he wished when he was little for someone to come and take him away, about how music helps him find an escape from the hell that is his life, about how he doesn’t like going to parties, but he loves his friends, about how he knows that Michael wants to be his friend, about how sometimes he wishes that Michael would want more than that-

He sits up as soon as the words are out of his mouth, hearing them somehow breaking through the bubble that they found themselves in.

“That wasn’t-” he starts, moving to slide over to the entrance of the treehouse, and then Michael’s hand is on his arm, fingers gripping tightly to the fabric of his hoodie, and when Alex looks at him, Michael isn’t frowning or angry or disgusted.

He’s smiling something tentative but bright, and his eyes are sparkling, and there are basically no lights out here, but he seems to be shining in the night.

“Do you like me, Alex?” he asks in a low voice, slightly teasing, but there’s something very serious about the way his hand is still gripping Alex’s hoodie.

Alex just licks his lips, feeling like his mouth is as dry as the Sahara, and when he swallows, his throat clicks.

Alex can’t seem to find the words to say, so he just nods his head slowly.

Michael’s smile goes supernova, and he pushes in closer, invading Alex’s personal space in a way that makes his head spin, and his heart races.

His eyes are almost glowing as he leans in even closer, lips just shy of brushing Alex’s cheek, leaning his weight on Alex’s side, feeling heavy and almost too warm.

“Do you want to kiss me?” he asks, whispering the words right against Alex’s skin, his breath hot and humid and smelling like pot and cheap beer.

Alex can’t look away from Michael’s eyes.

Michael doesn’t wait for him to answer.

He presses a soft kiss to Alex’s cheek, something chaste and soft, and Alex feels it like a brand on his face, and he gasps, eyes fluttering shut.

Encouraged by the reaction, Michael presses another kiss to his face, closer to Alex’s mouth, before he pulls away a little,

Alex blinks his eyes open, and gets trapped in Michael’s gaze again, something liquid and endless about them that makes Alex feel like he could almost drown.

He breathes in a raggedly, and his eyes drop to Michael’s mouth very obviously.

He still doesn’t understand what the big deal about making out is, but he knows, deep down in his bones, that he wants to try, and that he wants to try with Michael.

Alex doesn’t ask.

He moves, fitting his hands on either side of Michael’s face and leaning in slow enough that Michael knows exactly what he’s doing, and then he kisses him, pressing their mouths together, and crushing their noses awkwardly.

Alex feels a little mortified, but Michael doesn’t push him away and laughs or anything like that. He just reaches up with one hand and cups the side of Alex’s face and tilts his head to the side and then presses their mouths together again.

Alex makes a soft noise against his mouth, unable to help himself as a tingly shiver goes down the back of his neck.

Michael makes a low sound, and then lifts his other hand to Alex’s face and slides both of his hands to the back of Alex’s neck, rubbing against his hairline.

Alex gasps, and Michael licks against his mouth, and Alex automatically opens his mouth wider.

Michael licks into Alex’s mouth, and Alex starts to feel even more tingly and warm and he thinks dimly, oh that’s why they use tongues, before he surges into Michael, hands dragging into the curly hair that he’s only dreamt about getting his hands in, and Michael’s hair curls around his fingers and Alex tugs.

Michael moans, and Alex licks into his mouth, repeating the same thing that Michael had done to him.

Alex kisses him until it gets hard to breathe, and he has to pull away to gasp.

Michael takes the opportunity to lean down and closer, pressing his mouth, hot and wet right against the curve of Alex’s neck.

It sends zings of pleasure through Alex, and he flinches, not used to the sensation, “Wait.”

Michael stops immediately, pulling away, but he can’t exactly get too far with Alex’s hands still caught in his hair.

“Sorry, was that not okay? I’m not usually this, aggressive I guess, I just never felt like-I mean that was-”

“New,” Alex says, and Michael stops talking, and his eyes go a little bit wider when he realizes what Alex is saying. “And I’m not saying to stop. I just-I’ve never-”

Michael’s eyes go even wider with disbelief, and Alex starts to feel a little defensive, moving to pull his hands away from Michael’s hair.

“Wait,” Michael says. “I’m not judging you. I’m just surprised. You’re like the hottest guy in our school.”

Alex feels a flush working across his face and down the back of his neck and he shakes his head. “I’m really not.”

Michael opens his mouth like he’s going to argue, but then closes his mouth and shakes his head.

“Okay, then we’ll take things slow,” he says and slides his hands down to grab Alex’s. “But I don’t want to be just friends, either.”

Alex licks his lips and looks at Michael for a long moment, at the way he looks so hopeful and like he’ll actually die if Alex tells him that they can’t do this again.

Alex tugs on Michael’s hands hard enough that he stumbles forward into Alex, and then he fits his hands on either side of Michael’s face, and leans in close.

“We don’t have to go that slow,” he whispers before he’s pressing their mouths together again.

Michael makes a happy sound against Alex’s mouth, and kisses him back.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> four times michael almost kisses alex and one time that he does

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> posted on tumblr on 04/07/20

Michael points out the barn, and he herds Alex towards it pushing him around the corner.

He curls his fingers around Alex’s arm and pushes him against the side of the wall, pressing in close and then peeking around the side to make sure that the coast is actually clear.

He doesn’t see anyone around, and he breathes out in relief, pulling away and turning to look at Alex and freezing as the move brings them face to face, much closer than they’ve been in a while.

Michael feels something jump in the pit of his stomach, and his heart starts racing in his chest, and he feels like he can’t breathe right, and his head feels a little fuzzy, and Alex is right there, his eyes on Michael’s mouth, lips parted slightly almost like he’s mesmerized.

He sways forward a little, and Alex inhales sharply, shaking his head and looking away, “Is this the place?”

Michael swallows hard and takes a step away from him, “Yeah, this is it.”

-

“Hey,” Alex says in a soft voice, almost hesitant, and Michael just inhales carefully and looks over to him, trying not to look as devastated as he feels that his mother didn’t take him out of the pod in the year that she spent here.

Alex settles his hand on Michael’s shoulder, “Your mom loved you so much, Michael, and I’m sure she had a good reason for doing what she did.”

Michael just stares at him, unblinking for a second, and Alex just moves a little closer, fingers tightening on his shoulder.

“And I know that if she knew then what was going to happen, that she would’ve spent every moment with you. She thought that she had more time.”

Michael swallows hard, “How could you possibly know that?”

Alex just shakes his head a little, giving Michael a slightly disbelieving look.

“I know because that’s how it was for me,” Alex says carefully. “If I knew that our path would lead us to where we are now, I wouldn’t have wasted any time.”

Michael feels the words hit him in the pit of his stomach, making his heart jump to his throat, beating rapidly.

His eyes drop to Alex’s mouth and back up to his eyes, and Alex’s fingers tighten marginally on his shoulder, his eyes flickering from Michael’s mouth, down to the hollow of his throat and back up to his eyes.

Michael takes half a step forward, bringing them even closer together.

“Alien guy,” he hears a familiar voice calling out, and Alex startles, letting his hand drop to his side as they both turn back to face inside of the barn.

“Nazi guy?” Michael questions, both happy and upset at the interruption.

-

“A beer?” Alex questions, looking back at Michael and raising an eyebrow.

Michael rolls his eyes a little, “You know what I mean. It’s not like we’re friends. We’re barely even acquaintances.”

Alex raises his other eyebrow, “Is there a reason why you feel the need to defend yourself so adamantly? I’m just messing with you. I’m not actually going to judge you too badly if you’re actually interested in dating a Long.”

“I’m definitely not interested,” Michael scoffs, protesting immediately, turning more to face Alex, his knee digging into Alex’s thigh.

Alex’s face goes highly amused, a smile quirking up the side of his mouth, “Oh really?”

Michael rolls his eyes and pushes Alex, who makes a show of almost falling off the tree trunk and grabs on to Michael’s knee to keep his balance.

Michael wraps a hand around his arm and tugs him, pulling a little too hard so that Alex practically falls into his lap.

Alex looks at him, a wide smile on his face, that dims slightly when he notices how close they are.

Michael stares into Alex’s eyes, and he speaks without even really thinking about it.

“I’ve never really been interested in another guy like that,” he admits, and Alex’s eyes go a little bit wider. “Not that you’re the only guy I’ve ever been with, but like wanting to actually be with them, like in a relationship, you’re the only one.”

Alex exhales sofly, blinking rapidly and licking his lips, and Michael inhales deeply, moving forward a little.

“Beer?” Nazi Guy calls out, startling them apart.

Michael bites down on his lower lip and turns away from Alex, more upset about this interruption than the last.

-

Michael feels off as he watches Nazi Guy giving Alex his number just in case he has any other questions, like Michael wasn’t the one who had been asking most of the questions.

Alex smiles, a tight lipped smile that he gives to people he doesn’t know, and nothing like the smiles that he gives Michael, but it still makes him feel kind of sick to his stomach.

The guy leaves and Alex turns around, shaking his head and giving Michael a slightly surprised face when he notices him standing there, leaning back against his truck.

“Thought you’d be long gone to the library before it closes,” he says as he walks closer to Michael instead of heading towards his car.

Michael doesn’t say anything.

He stares at Alex, and waits until Alex is close enough that he can reach for him.

He tugs Alex in close and then reverses their positions, caging him against the side of the truck, and leaning in close.

“Guerin,” Alex says, voice soft and shaking. “What are you doing?”

Michael drags his eyes from Alex’s mouth up to his eyes and he licks his bottom lip.

“I’m not sure,” he admits. 

He knows that he wants to kiss Alex, has been wanting to do that all day. But he feels like it could be the worst and best idea that he’s ever had, and that it would all depend on how Alex would react.

It scares him a little bit to know that he doesn’t know if Alex would push him away or kiss him back.

“Then maybe you should stop, until you are sure,” Alex says, hands coming up to Michael’s chest to push him back a little.

Michael lets him, but he reaches up and catches Alex’s right hand against his chest.

Alex blinks at him, and flexes his fingers, but doesn’t move away.

“Thank you,” Michael says. “For coming when I called you.”

Alex gives him a small smile, not as big as his polite smile, but entirely more genuine.

“Anytime, Guerin.”

-

Michael drops the piece of the console on the floor and it lands with a light thud, but he barely hears it as he gets to his feet and reaches for Alex in one quick motion.

“Hey,” he says, wrapping his fingers around his arm and tugging him around.

Alex turns back to face him, cheeks stained with tears, eyes wet, bottom lip pulled between his teeth.

He looks sad and a little bit confused, and like the most beautiful thing that Michael has ever seen, and he’d told him that he didn’t want him to go, and Michael feels like he needs to do something about that confession since he’s spent months thinking that Alex ran away that day because he couldn’t take the actuality of Michael’s reality.

“Wha-?” Alex starts to ask, but Michael moves, following through on the urge he’s had all day.

He fits the fingers of his left hand to the back of Alex’s neck, cupping the side of his throat, and he tips Alex’s head up a little and then kisses him.

Alex makes a soft surprised sound against his mouth, and then he moves into the kiss, placing a hand against the back of Michael’s head and kissing him back.

Michael moves in even closer, until his knees knock into Alex’s, and he slides both of his hands into Alex’s hair, cupping his ears as he pulls him in closer, leaving open mouth kisses across Alex’s mouth, until he’s moaning low in his throat.

Alex tugs restlessly on Michael’s hair, his other hand tangled in Michael’s belt loops.

Michael licks against his lips and kisses him harder, knocking their teeth together a little jarringly, making Alex’s mouth drop open.

Michael keeps him close and deepens the kiss, pouring every single thing that he’s felt the entire day he spent with Alex, the bubbling happiness and the sadness, and the warmth that just being around him gave Michael, settling something in the pit of his stomach, to know that there was at least one person around who would come when he called.

Alex makes a low noise at the back of his throat, and then he’s pulling away from Michael, not managing to get too far, since Michael snags his fingers into the collar of Alex’s jacket and keeps him close.

Alex’s eyes are shut tight and he’s shaking his head a little.

“Fuck, Guerin,” he says voice low and throaty, pulling his lower lip between his teeth. 

His eyes blink open, and his brow furrows, and he looks serious, “You can’t do things like that when I’m trying to let you go.”

Michael shakes his head, moving in closer, and only stopping when Alex makes a low hurt sound.

"Maybe I don’t want you to let me go,” Michael says slowly, looking at Alex seriously.

Alex shakes his head immediately, trying to move back, but Michael keeps him still.

"Yes you do,” Alex, stopping his struggling and not looking away.

Michael shakes his head, and Alex just nods his head a little vigorously.

Michael drags his hands up to his head to stop him from nodding, "Don’t tell me what I want.”

"You don’t know what you want, Guerin!” Alex snaps, hands lifting and dropping on either side.

He doesn’t try to pull away from Michael, and even though they’re standing so close that Michael can feel his breaths, it feels like they’re standing further apart than they have all day.

“I just told you that not only has my family been hurting yours for generations, but my great-uncle is directly responsible for hunting your mother and taking her to Caulfield,” he pauses like he’s waiting for Michael to digest that, like Michael hasn’t already added it to the list of things to hate about the Manes.

The only thing on the plus side of things to love about them is standing right here in his hands.

“Not to mention what my father has done to you,” he continues like he’s making an actual valid point.

“Listen to me,” Michael says, and waits until he’s sure that he has Alex’s undivided attention to continue speaking. “I already told you. You aren’t them, Alex. And even if you can’t tell the difference, right now, I can.”

Alex shakes his head a little, and Michael tightens his fingers in his hair, as he continues to speak fervently, “If you were, then I wouldn’t-“

He stops himself, the words getting caught in his throat, and he feels how Alex goes so incredibly still in his hold, eyes wide and bright and on Michael.

"You wouldn’t what?” he asks slowly and carefully like he’s afraid that Michael is going to go running if he pushes too hard.

Michael inhales deeply, and then exhales carefully, but he doesn’t look away from Alex, “I wouldn’t care about you as much as I do.”

Alex’s eyes fall shut, and he bites down on his lower lip, and all Michael wants is to kiss him again.

Michael slides his hands down to the back of Alex’s neck and tugs him in, sliding their noses together.

“Michael,” Alex whispers, soft and fragile in the space between their mouths, a warning and a question and an answer all in one.

“I don’t want you to go,” Michael admits, and Alex makes a low sound like someone punched him in the stomach, hands reaching up to press against Michael’s chest.

“Just,” Michael breathes, dragging his hands back up into Alex’s hair. “Just let me-”

Michael drags their mouths together, and Alex makes a low noise, almost like a sob.

He’s trembling in Michael’s hold, but he lifts his shaking hands to Michael’s face, and presses his fingers to Michael’s cheeks, and almost like he can’t help himself, like he’ll die if he doesn’t, he kisses Michael back.


End file.
